


Begin Again

by astrocrown



Category: Green Lantern (Comics), The Flash (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, Hal has problems with alcohol, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, M/M, Minor Character Death, The only death is hal's dad. just so we're clear.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-20
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-04-04 23:30:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 46,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14031216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astrocrown/pseuds/astrocrown
Summary: AU where Martin Jordan dies much later in Hal's life, when he's a directionless college student with an attitude problem. When tragedy strikes, Hal’s best friend and roommate Barry tries to help, but it’s up to Hal alone to turn his life around as he recovers from his loss.Over the course of several months, the pair are faced with challenges that threaten to drive them apart, leaving them to wonder if there’s any room in their lives for their feelings for each other.





	1. A Broken Thread

**Author's Note:**

> I went crazy over spring break and wrote a ton. While the story is already done, the plan is to post the chapters weekly-ish, depending on my schedule.
> 
> An important note: At the start of the story, Barry and Hal aren't Flash and GL. So no powers/rings/etc.
> 
> First chapter pretty much sets the stage. I hope you enjoy it.

Hal would have Barry know that he was sleeping peacefully, thank you very much, until his roommate threw a pillow straight at his face. Hal jolted at the sudden contact as he came to, trying to reorient himself. 

“Mornin’, sunshine,” Barry said. The blond sat down on a nearby chair in the living room, all dressed and ready to go for the day. He munched on a protein bar, watching Hal trying to remember where he was and who he was. 

Hal sat up on the couch, holding his head and groaning. He’d fallen asleep there the night before. Why had he done that? He and Barry had separate rooms in their shared apartment, so it wasn’t like he’d be waking up his roommate when he came home at near three in the morning after bar hopping. Well, considering how little he remembered from the night before and how massive his headache was right now, it was pretty likely he’d just come home and fell asleep at the first spot he saw. 

“I feel like shit,” he said bluntly. 

“You have class in an hour.”

Hal scowled. Barry was a decent guy, really. He was pretty nice and he was one of the few people that didn’t make Hal feel like a piece of shit every second of his waking life. Sometimes though, he would act like a damn dad. Hal already had one of those, even though he was clear across the country in Hal’s home of Coast City. But they talked often, so the distance didn’t matter. He didn’t need Barry breathing down his neck.

Barry’s expression shifted into a concerned one. “Hal, you’ve already missed so many classes, and we’re not even halfway through the semester.”

Hal got up from the couch. The room spun for a second, but he quickly rushed in the direction of the bathroom. 

“Hal, wait.”

Hal stopped, looking back at Barry.

Barry looked over at him from his seat. “Your dad called your phone a little bit ago. I tried to wake you but you ignored me so I answered it. He said there’s some storms moving in that might delay your flight tonight, so just keep an eye out.” 

Hal frowned. “Did you say anything else?” 

Barry knew what that meant. Hal was asking if he’d told his dad about the alcohol. Even though Hal argued that it didn’t matter because he was of legal age now, he was still trying to hide it from his dad and the rest of his family. Well, it wasn’t Barry’s place to say anything about it. At least not to Hal’s family behind his back.

“No, I didn’t. But Hal...don’t you think this is getting out of hand? I don’t want to lecture you, but—”

“Then don’t,” Hal said, turning away again. His head was hurting far too much to talk about this right now. All he needed was a shower and a lot of aspirin and he’d be fine. He’d done this before. No big deal. Not like it was gonna kill him. 

Barry sighed and let him go. 

Hal got into his shower, turning on the water extra hot in hopes it would wake him up. Sure beat having the water freezing in attempt to cure his hangover. Been there, done that. It didn’t work. Not to mention, with hot water, he could at least think, even though thinking was hard on a hangover. 

Today was Thursday. After his classes were done for the day, Hal was set to head back to Coast City for the duration of next week’s fall break. Going back home was always a mixed bag. On one hand, he got to see his dad again. He and his dad were pretty close and the older Hal got, the more he mirrored him. They looked alike, but Hal also dressed and talked like him. It didn’t happen consciously, it was a product of how much time they spent together while Hal was growing up. Martin Jordan was a test pilot for Ferris Air and had been for several years now. They were trying to push him to retire, but he had no desire for it. Hal didn’t blame him. Retirement sounded boring and his dad was still sharp as he ever was.

On the other hand, his relationship with the rest of his family wasn’t as great. His mom had been pushing him since he was a kid. Pushing him to get better grades or do more around the house. He loved his mom, but sometimes it felt like all she did was nag him because he’d rather be watching his dad fly, or sneaking out of the house at night even at a young age to explore the world around him. His older brother, Jack, thought he was irresponsible, selfish, and reckless. Then there was his younger brother, Jim, whose thoughts didn’t seem to differ too much from Jack’s, but he would at least talk to Hal. 

Hal could have gone to a university close to home, but he chose to go out of state and attend Wayne University in Gotham City. He believed that putting some distance between himself and his family would benefit both himself and them, but he also wanted the chance to figure out the world on his own terms. If he had to go to college— and both of his parents insisted he did— then he should be able to exercise his right to live independently at the same time. 

The problem was that Hal had no idea what he should do with his independence. He hadn’t declared a major yet and avoided any and all conversations about his future. This was especially becoming a problem lately because he had recently entered his junior year and still had not declared a major. His family, his advisor, his professors, and everyone in between kept reminding him that he had to choose something soon, and he still didn’t wanna hear a word of it or deal with it. 

He missed his dad and couldn’t wait to see him again, but he also wasn’t looking forward to the inevitable conversations about his classes and future. Alcohol was a way to forget about all that. The hangovers were a pain, but nothing he couldn’t handle. Or, so he told himself. 

The shower did help, but only a little. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been in it, but he was sure that he was going to be late to class. Again. Well, better late than not going, right? After he got out, he dressed in the first thing he could find, which happened to be an old t-shirt and jeans. At least he matched this time. 

He was sure that Barry would already be gone, but the blond was waiting for him in the living room. He had his shoes, jacket, and messenger bag, so it was clear he was about to leave. But there he stood, waiting for Hal and holding a pair of protein bars, some ibuprofen, and a bottle of water.

“Take these. You need them.”

Hal took the items, looking at Barry skeptically. “I thought you didn’t like me eating your food.”

“Just take them. It’ll help your hangover.”

Barry had been his roommate since last year. The pair usually got along well. Hal certain liked him better than most other people and Barry seemed to appreciate his company as well. They hung out sometimes or studied together in the rare occasions that Hal actually studied. Sometimes though, Hal had no idea how they got along. They were so different. Barry was responsible, studious, and kind. Hal was...a mess. But as long as Barry wanted to be friends with him, Hal would gladly take his company.

Hal pouted. “I don’t have a hangover.”

“Right. Come on, get your stuff. I’ll walk to campus with you.” 

Hal grumbled, retrieving his jacket and backpack. “Okay, _mom_.”

Barry playfully punched his shoulder. “That’s no way to talk to someone who just gave you two of his expensive protein bars.” 

“Yeah, yeah. Thanks, Bar…”

“You’re welcome, Hal.”

* * *

It just so happened that the storms in the evening didn’t last, so Hal’s flight was on time. Thank goodness for that, because he hated delays. Airports were the worst and commercial flights sucked. He wanted to get his flight over with as soon as possible. It was absolutely nothing like being in the air with his dad. With his dad, flying felt like an adventure. It was exciting and made him feel alive. Commercial planes were so incredibly boring. He usually ended up passing out. Sure, commercial planes were, in essence, built to be boring because they were meant for the general population. But that didn’t mean Hal had to like it. 

Barry had been nice enough to drive him to the airport. Hal hadn’t asked and had planned on calling a cab or something, but Barry insisted, so Hal definitely wasn’t going to say no. As tempting as it was to take advantage of the ride as a free one, Hal had offered gas money anyway. 

Hal had pulled out a five dollar bill as Barry pulled up to the airport, holding it in Barry’s direction.

“Hal, I don’t need your money,” Barry said with the car in park.

“It’s gas money, dummy. You drove me here. Take it.”

“I know what it is. Keep it.”

Hal stared right him, pushing the bill into Barry’s jacket pocket. “My dad didn’t raise me in a barn.” After that, he got out of the car and opened up the backseat door to get his suitcase out.

“Text me when you land?” Barry asked, looking back from the driver’s seat. 

Hal chuckled. “You’re cute, Bar. Yeah, I’ll text you.”

“Good. See you next week?”

“Yeah, see you. Say hi to your dad for me.”

Barry gave him a small smile. “Yeah. Will do.” 

Hal had never actually met Barry’s dad. Not many had, because Barry’s dad was locked up in prison closer to Barry’s home serving a life sentence for the murder of Barry’s mother. When Barry first explained this to Hal, he’d insisted that his dad hadn’t done it. He told Hal that he was majoring in organic chemistry with a minor in criminology so that one day, he could prove it as a forensic scientist. And he didn’t care what the papers or the media said because he was _there_ , and he knew his dad would never do such a thing. Whenever Barry explained this to most people, they didn’t take him seriously. Barry knew it and Hal had seen it as well. Hal, on the other hand, believed him. Barry felt so strongly about it and he was so earnest in his efforts, how could he not? If Barry believed in his dad, then Hal did too. 

Hal got to his destination safe, sound, and on time. He was very thankful to be leaving the plane after spending six goddamn hours in it. He made his way off the plane and onto Coast City grounds, texting Barry like he’d promised. If nothing else, it was nice to be back in his hometown. It was familiar, and Gotham kind of gave him the creeps. 

He didn’t know who was going to be picking him up. His mom had assured him that someone would be there. In the past, it was usually just his mom picking him up because everyone else’s schedules conflicted with his flight times. Jim was in school, Jack was working, his dad was working….

This time was different. This time his dad was picking him up. As he came off an escalator, he spotted him standing there in his flight jacket, towering over everyone else around him, greeting Hal with a warm smile. Hal rushed the rest of the way down the escalator towards him, giving him a hug the moment he saw him. 

Martin Jordan chuckled, patting Hal’s back. “If I didn’t know any better, son, I’d start to think you missed me.” 

“Just surprised to see you. I don’t think you’ve ever picked me up before.”

Martin laughed again, ruffling his hair. “Well I’m here now, kiddo. Come on, let’s get your bags. Your mother’s making dinner and you know how much I love her cooking.” 

Hal smiled. “Hope she saved some for me, because I’m starving.”

“There’s always room for you, son.”

* * *

Three days later, Hal was in the car with his dad, heading to Ferris Air. 

“It’s been too long since I saw you fly,” Hal said.

“I agree,” Martin said with a smile, then his expression turned more serious as he drove on the highway. “Hal, listen. I’ve been meaning to talk to you.”

Hal’s expression fell into a frown. Was this a lecture? His dad didn’t lecture him much. He would gently nudge him sometimes, but usually with a smile and a hug. It was almost never with an expression as serious as the one he had now. 

“Your mother’s worried about you, and I am too.”

Yup. A lecture. Hal crossed his arms, looking down at his feet. “Everything’s fine, dad.” 

“Don’t lie to me, son. Your grades are slipping and you still haven’t picked a major. Is there anything going on you wanna talk about?”

Hal didn’t know what was worse. His mother nagging him, or hearing the disappointment in his dad’s voice because he was a shitty son. Probably the latter, because right now he wanted to crawl into a hole. 

“There’s nothing going on,” he said. Well, aside from the increase in drinking, but he didn’t have to know that. This was bad enough already.

Martin frowned. He didn’t look angry. Just concerned. “Well, listen, son. Whatever you decide to do, I’m proud of you no matter what. All I want for you and your brothers is to do what makes you happy. You can be anything you want, so long as you promise your old man one thing.”

“What’s that?”

They came to a red light and Martin looked over at him, straight in the eyes. “That you never give up.”

Hal looked at him, but didn’t know what to say. 

“I mean it. Never give up, son. Not on anything, but especially yourself. You don’t have to be afraid of anything so long as you keep moving forward and don’t give up. Okay, son? Promise me that.” 

Hal nodded slowly, not taking his eyes off him. “Okay, dad. I promise.”

“No fear, son.”

“No fear.” 

“Good.” 

The light turned green and Martin refocused his attention on the road. After a moment of silence, he was smiling again and reached over for Hal’s shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Now, are you ready to see your old man fly again?”

Hal seemed to brighten back up a little upon hearing that. “Hell yeah I am.”

“Now we’re talking. We’ve got a lot of lost time to make up for, if you ask me.”

There was a new autopilot system that Hal’s dad was set to do some further testing on. While an autopilot system wasn’t new in itself, this particular system was said to be of even better technology so it would fly almost as well as a pilot themselves and even assist a pilot during emergencies for even more safety during flights. Martin’s job was to test it in a new kind of aircraft that was built for the system. Hal didn’t entirely understand how it worked, but his dad assured him it was safe and he’d worked with plenty of similar systems, plus that the system had been tested various times prior with stellar results. For Hal, it didn’t matter too much, so long as he could see his dad fly again, for the first time in months. 

Also watching the flight were Carl Ferris and his daughter, Carol. It was actually pretty strange for Mr. Ferris to be anywhere but his office these days, but apparently this was an expensive system and he wanted to see the plane in action as Martin flew. Carol, who worked at Ferris with her father, was usually present for many test flights. She was occasionally a pilot herself, but lately had been taking on other duties to assist her aging father.

Both Carol and her father were familiar with Hal, since he’d grown up spending a lot of time on the airfield watching his father fly. Truthfully, Hal wasn’t supposed to be here because of regulations and he didn’t work for Ferris, but Mr. Ferris had always made an exception for him because he and Martin were good friends. 

Martin had to get suited up, so he handed Hal his brown leather flight jacket. It was adorned with various patches he’d earned over the years, along with their last name on the front. 

“Keep it warm for me, will ya, son?”

Hal nodded with a smile. As he took the jacket, he suddenly felt like that kid again, eight years old and skipping school to watch his dad fly. Since then, he’d seen him fly so many times, in so many different ways. Martin was known for pushing his limits, often farther than his superiors wanted to, and he did it all with a smile on his face. Still, he was the best pilot they had. Ace pilot Martin Jordan, some would call him. As far as Hal was concerned, his dad was the coolest there ever was.

“See you, dad!” Hal called. He clutched the jacket in his arms, watching him board the plane.

“See you soon, son,” Martin said. He briefly looked back at Hal with that same warm smile Hal had grown up with, that smile that made him feel like he was home. Man, his dad was awesome. 

Hal stood alongside Mr. Ferris, Carol, and other Ferris staff members. Together, they watched Martin board the plane and seal himself inside. 

That was the last time Hal ever saw his father. 

Martin started up the plane and took off down the runway. Everything looked normal at the start. The engine fired up just like it was supposed to and the plane was in the air, climbing higher and higher into the sky. Hal looked up in awe. No matter how old he was and how many times he’d seen this, he never got tired of it. There were other good pilots, sure, but none of them cut the sky open the way that his dad did, and he took a great sense of pride in that. 

Mr. Ferris was talking to Martin on a headset communicator. Carol had one too and she was listening in, taking notes on a clipboard. Everything seemed fine and they were calmly communicating about stats back and forth. Meanwhile, the plane was in the air, doing several types of awesome maneuvers. 

Mr. Ferris instructed him to turn the autopilot on. Hal couldn’t hear his dad’s side of the conversation, but it sounded like everything was fine. He could tell almost right away when it wasn’t his dad flying anymore because the plane maneuvered above the Ferris Air facility in a calmer, quieter, safer manner. 

Then, Mr. Ferris and Carol started looking really concerned. 

“Shut it off,” Mr. Ferris said. “Shut off the autopilot, Martin.”

Anxiety hit Hal’s stomach. “What’s going on?”

Carol frowned and looked at him, trying to listen to her headset. “The autopilot’s malfunctioning. It won’t shut off.”

Tension filled the air and Mr. Ferris couldn’t hide how tense he was. He was giving Martin instructions on how to override the autopilot with some safety features. Martin had already been taught about this system and the overrides before, but they were desperate to get him back on track. For the moment, the plane was flying safely, but if they didn’t fix the autopilot problem, the situation could go south really fast. 

Nothing was working. Hal felt a pit in his stomach that was growing at a rapid rate. Filled with a sense of desperation, he reached for Carol’s headset and yanked it off her head, taking it for himself.

“Hal!” she cried in surprise and concern. 

Hal fixed the headset to his head, hearing Martin and Mr. Ferris exchange words about how to override the system.

“Dad!” Hal cried into the headset. 

Mr. Ferris turned to Hal and started yelling at him to get off the headset, but Hal couldn’t hear him. All he could see was the plane, and all he could listen for was his dad. 

The plane started going down. 

Hal was shouting into the headset “Dad! Dad!”

“Hal, son, I—”

The plane hit the end of the runway in a vast explosion. 

For a second, Hal couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe. The crowd around him were gasping and yelling but they were so distant. 

He heard Carol gasp. “Oh, god…”

Hal suddenly heard himself scream. The pain that started to rip through him came out of him in a loud cry that ripped through the air. He lunged forward towards the gate of the fence he’d been standing behind, with the intent of breaking through. He didn’t know what exactly he was doing or what he would do when he got past the gate, because there was absolutely no way that his dad had survived the crash and subsequent explosion. In that moment though, logic didn’t matter, and he just wanted to run and see for himself. 

Carol and her dad were calling his name. It took both of them holding him back to keep him from going past the gate and running towards the crash. 

“Hal, stop!”

“You can’t go over there, Harold!”

Hal heard them, but their words didn’t register. His eyes were locked on the giant fireball several feet away, which began to blur in his vision his eyes welled up with tears. The longer he stared at it, the more real it was. There was not going to be any digging his dad out of what was left of the plane. He was gone. He was gone. 

He crumbled to his knees before the fence, watching helplessly as his tears began falling onto the pavement. He was gone. He was gone. Just like that, Hal’s world was shattered. He was gone. 

Carol knelt at his side, picking up the jacket he’d dropped and offering it to him again. 

“Hal...Hal, I’m so sorry.”

Hal took the jacket slowly, staring down at it in disbelief in shock. He still could hardly move. It was like someone had reached right into him and hit a shut down switch. Carol wrapped an arm around his shoulders comfortingly, at a loss for words. The two of them had practically grown up together and even though they didn’t talk as much these days with Hal being away at college, they were still friends. 

But right now, Hal was unresponsive, stopped in time. 

He was gone. He was gone.

* * *

It was late at night. The same night, in fact. They’d gone the rounds of delivering the news to Hal’s mother and his brothers. Started making arrangements. Hal could barely process anything. He felt like he was lost in an abyss of tears and agony. Not even his own, but everyone else’s. What about him? What was he supposed to do? He didn’t know. 

So, here he was, sitting on the roof of his family’s house because it brought him away from everyone on the ground and closer to the sky. 

He wasn’t sure what made him do it, but he pulled out his phone and called Barry. 

Barry answered on the third ring. “Hal? I don’t know if you forgot about time zones, but it’s 4am here. What’s going on?”

Hal was sniffling. Fuck, he thought to himself. Hadn’t he already cried out all of his tears? 

Barry’s voice grew concerned. “....Hal? Are you okay?”

“Barry…my dad...he’s….” He couldn’t say it. He couldn’t get the word out. “Fuck…”

“Hal? Oh...no.” 

“He’s gone, Barry. He’s gone.” 

“Oh, Hal. God. I’m so sorry. What happened?”

“Faulty system in a new plane. He went...he went down. He’s gone, Barry. He’s gone. What am I supposed to do? My mom’s falling apart, my brothers….I don’t know what to do.” 

“It hurts. I know. You don’t have to know what to do right now.” 

“He was everything to me, Barry,” Hal said. Now, he was crying harder than he had all day. Normally, he’d feel weird about letting his roommate and friend hear him cry, but right now he didn’t care. He just knew he needed to talk to someone, and Barry was the first person to pop in his head. “He was my dad, and now he’s gone. His last memories are of me being a fucking disappointment because I’m not doing anything with my life. What do I do now?”

Barry took in a deep breath. “Hal, your dad loved you. When he helped you move in here last year, I could see how proud he was of you. You and him were always so close. That doesn’t go away, Hal. Not ever. Your dad has always believed in you, and it doesn’t matter how stuck you think you are.” 

“I just wanted...to make him proud. And now I can’t.”

“Yes, you can. You can, Hal. It’s never too late.”

Hal didn’t say anything, trying to recompose himself. 

Barry spoke up again after a brief pause. “I’m flying over there.” 

“What?”

“You heard me. I’m flying over there.”

“But I thought you were flying back home to see your dad. Did you even fly back home yet?” Hal said. He couldn’t believe what Barry was suggesting. The only time Barry ever got to spend with his dad was when he visited him in prison. Those were Barry’s plans for his fall break, and now he was suggesting coming to be with Hal all the way across the country in Coast City? That just seemed nuts. 

“No...I had some lab work to do so I haven’t left yet. But don’t worry about it. I’ll book a flight for tomorrow. If nothing else, I want to go to your dad’s funeral. I only met him for a couple of hours, but he was a good man.”

It was more than that. Hal knew it was. Whenever anyone Barry cared about needed help, he was there in a pinch. It was just who Barry was. Right now, Hal didn’t have it in him to resist the help if for no other reason than because it was Barry and he trusted him. 

“Alright.”

“Do you need anything? I can bring something over when I get there.”

“No, I just...wanna talk,” Hal said weakly. 

Barry didn’t hesitate in his answer, despite how late it was. “Okay, Hal. We can talk as long as you want.”


	2. Lost in Space

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry arrives in Coast City to help Hal after his father's death. While he's there, he meets Oliver, another friend of Hal's, who offers his own perspective on the situation.

Barry stood outside of Hal’s family home. He was dressed in a black suit since they’d just attended the funeral for Hal’s dad. Next to him was another blond man. He looked like he could be anywhere between twenty and forty in age. Barry had no idea who he was and the funeral didn’t seem like the appropriate place to ask. There had been a lot of Hal’s extended family there that Barry didn’t know, so maybe this guy was Hal’s cousin or something. However, when everyone else left, this guy had followed Hal and Barry back to Hal’s home. And now, the two of them were standing on the front porch of the house while Hal was in a heated argument with his mom and brothers inside.

The problem was that Hal had arrived late to the funeral, and then left early. The brief time he was there, he refused to talk to anyone, even those just giving condolences. So now, he was being scolded by his family.

Barry and his companion could hear the shouts from the other side of the door as they waited. 

This was already awkward enough, so Barry looked over to the other blond and offered his hand. “I didn’t catch your name. I’m Barry, Hal’s roommate.”

The bearded man shook his hand and gave a brief nod. “I’m Oliver. A friend of Hal’s.”

“Wait, you’re Ollie? Hal’s told me about you.”

Oliver looked at him suspiciously. “What’d he say?”

Barry shrugged. “Just that you guys went to school together until you moved away. Also not to piss you off.”

That earned a chuckle from Oliver. “He’s right about that. It’s been a long time since I lived in this city, but we’ve kept in touch over the years. He hasn’t called as often since he started college though. How’s he been over there?”

Just then, they heard a loud crash from inside the house that sounded like glass breaking. Barry winced, resisting the urge to go inside and make sure everything was okay. No, this was a family dispute that he wasn’t part of. It was probably just an accident anyway. 

The crashing sound was followed by Hal’s mother’s voice, “Now look what you did!”

Hal replied back, but it was intelligible on the other side of the door. 

Barry sighed. He and Oliver exchanged glances, but Barry tried to continue the conversation. “Hal’s...been struggling with college.”

“What, bad grades?”

“He doesn’t know what he wants to do.”

“Tell him to join the club.”

Somehow, Barry was feeling like he could understand why Hal was friends with Oliver. “I figured that coming home for the break would be good for him but, well….”

Oliver lowered his head. “Yeah. Frankly, I’m worried about him. Good guy, but zero restraint. For better or for worse.”

“I know what you mean,” Barry said. The shouting from the house got louder. He tried to ignore it. “I try to keep him on his feet, but—”

“He doesn’t listen, does he?”

“Nope. Not a word,” Barry said, shaking his head. 

“Yeah, he’s stubborn as a mule. Gets it from his dad. He takes after his dad more than his brothers do. It’s how they were always so close.”

Barry looked down, kicking a rock off the porch lazily. “I met his dad once, briefly. He flew over to help Hal move into the apartment we have now. Nice guy. Took Hal out to eat afterwards and invited me along.”

“Sounds about right. He had that side of him, and he had the side of him that kept him up in the air several hours of the week, to his wife’s chagrin.”

Barry frowned. “I didn’t know she didn’t approve.”

“From what Hal told me in the past, it wasn’t so much of an issue when they were younger. But you bring three kids in the picture, and, well, your priorities change.” 

Barry nodded slowly. “I see what you mean.”

The front door suddenly burst open, startling them both. Hal came out, slamming the door shut behind him. The anger and frustration in his face made him look years older than he was.

“We’re leaving,” Hal said, walking off the porch.

Barry and Oliver looked at each other.

Hal looked back. “Both of you. I can’t stay here a second longer.”

Barry rushed off the porch to catch up with him, Oliver close behind. “Where do you wanna go, Hal?”

“Anywhere, I don’t care. Away from here.” 

Oliver zipped to Hal’s front, stopping him and putting a friendly hand on his shoulder. “Don’t go rushing somewhere without us. Why don’t we grab a bite to eat? I got my car. My treat.”

Hal looked at the ground and nodded. “Yeah, alright.”

Barry patted Hal’s other shoulder, offering a sympathetic smile. “A bite to eat could do us all some good right now.”

The trio headed down the sidewalk a bit until they came to a bright red, very fancy sports car. Oliver unlocked the doors with a button and wordlessly hopped in the driver’s seat. Meanwhile, Barry couldn’t hide the impressive gaze in his his eyes at just how nice this car was.

“He’s rich,” Hal explained, climbing into the back seat.

Barry climbed into the other side of the back seat with him. “I see…”

* * *

Oliver took them to a burger joint. Hal figured that Ollie tried to pick something casual he’d be comfortable in. Well, truth was, he wasn’t in the mood to care. Oliver could have driven them to Canada and Hal wouldn’t have paid any mind. He didn’t want to be patronized. He just wanted to get away from his family for a while. 

Barry sat next to Hal with Oliver across from them at a booth. They each had a meal, but Hal was barely touching his. 

“I’ve put off talking about this,” Barry began, “but, Hal...are you flying back to Gotham before classes start again on Monday?” It was currently Friday. 

Hal picked up a fry and stared at it for a moment before popping it in his mouth. “Yeah. My flight was supposed to leave this morning, but….” The funeral happened. “The sooner I leave, the better.”

“You haven’t booked another flight yet, have you?”

“No.”

Barry pulled out his phone and began tapping through a few apps. “Well, let’s see when I can book us a flight back.”

Oliver sat across from them, watching while he gladly stuffed his face. He rose an eyebrow at Hal. “Did you just expect a flight to appear at your convenience, Hal?”

Hal glared at him, oblivious to Barry next to him making a motion for Oliver to stop. 

“Well excuse me, it just so happened I was at my dad’s funeral about an hour ago.”

“I’m aware of that,” Oliver said, unfazed by the dark look on Hal’s face. “I just think you should cooperate with your friend here a little more.”

“Ollie?”

“What, Hal?”

“Shut up.”

Barry cleared his throat and showed Hal what he had open on his phone. “Look, a flight for tomorrow morning. Price isn’t too bad, considering.”

Hal barely even looked at the phone, let alone Barry, before responding. “I want something tonight.”

“Tonight?” Barry repeated. The blond frowned, looking back at his phone. “Well, I guess I can check out of my hotel room early.”

Oliver clicked his tongue and took a sip of his drink. “Come on, guys. Really? Hal, get your stuff and stay with Barry in his hotel room for the night, then you guys can take the morning flight. Problem solved.”

Hal looked at Ollie. He could hardly believe that neither Ollie nor Barry had brought up the fight with his family. They hadn’t asked him what was said or lectured him about arriving late and leaving early in the same way that his family had. They hadn’t asked any questions or said any of those things. They were just helping Hal get back to Gotham. 

Barry scratched the back of his head shyly, looking over at Hal. “Well, there’s only one bed, but I don’t mind if you don’t.”

Hal actually managed to smile a little. It was very faint, but it was something, and it happened when he looked at Barry. “I can deal with it.”

“See? There you go,” Oliver said. 

Barry tapped through his phone, booking the flights. It wasn’t the first time Barry had let Hal borrow money in one form or another, and it probably wouldn’t be the last. Barry had tried to warn Hal about his terrible financial habits in the past, but it usually fell on deaf ears. Recently, Barry had told him he couldn’t keep lending him money, and Hal swore he would change his habits. In any event, Barry would have made an exception in this case anyway.

“There. Booked,” Barry said.

“I’ll pay you ba—”

“Don’t worry about it, Hal. I know.”

Hal got up from the booth. “Nature calls. Back in a minute,” He announced before walking off. 

Barry didn’t think anything of it, putting his phone away and returning to eat his meal. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t have a weakness for food like this, even if he usually tried to keep a relatively healthy diet. He was munching away on his burger when he noticed Oliver giving him a strange look. 

“What?” Barry asked. 

“Are you and Hal….”

Barry blinked. “Are we what?”

“Are you guys...dating?”

Barry had no idea what he was expecting, but it wasn’t that. He almost choked on his burger and it took him a moment to recompose himself. That’s just what he needed. His roommate’s friend giving him the Heimlich maneuver the day of the damn funeral. 

“No, no, no. We’ve been roommates since last year. He’s my friend, you know? I guess I just know him pretty well from living with him. Sometimes we—”

“Uh-huh,” Oliver said blankly. “Okay, well, he’s into you.” 

“What?!” Barry said, louder now. A few people from nearby tables stared at them. Feeling sheepish, he lowered his voice again. “You can’t be serious. Hal? He flirts with girls like it’s his job. I’ve never seen him even look at a guy.”

“Maybe that’s because there’s only one guy he’s looking at.”

Barry felt his cheeks warm, which made him pout. “But...Hal’s a flirt, and he’s never flirted with me.”

Oliver rose an eyebrow. “Are you sure about that?”

No. No, he wasn’t. Barry hid his face behind his burger again. “Well, in any event, we’re not dating. I mean, we just left his dad’s funeral. Why would you bring this up now?”

Oliver’s expression grew more serious. “Because I have a feeling you know Hal as well as I do, which means you know how reckless he is. Sometimes he makes decisions in the heat of the moment. And sometimes, he has that effect on those around him, too. That can be a good thing, but in sensitive situations, it can also blow up in his face. And yours.”

Barry thought about that. Hal was never going to be the same. The past few days, since he’d arrived here in Coast City, Hal had shut down emotionally, but this was just the start of a very long journey. Barry was well familiar with the grieving process and sometimes he was still going through it himself, but for Hal it was just beginning. The next several months, even the next few years would be some of the hardest of Hal’s entire life. Hal’s life would change, but he would also likely change as a person.

Barry just hoped that Hal didn’t lose himself along the way. 

“He needs someone like you,” Oliver continued. “He trusts you. Don’t be fooled by his attitude. He’s a great friend. Well, when he wants to be. Heh.” 

“Oh, believe me. I’ve seen it.”

Hal was approaching the table again, and taking his seat. “Seen what?” 

Oliver answered quickly, “Nothing. Hal, when you get back to Gotham, do something for me, will you?”

Hal groaned. “What is it, Ollie?”

“Give me a call once in a while. I hardly hear from you anymore, and you’re terrible at answering your phone.”

“Yeah, Ollie. Will do.”

“Good. Maybe I’ll have Barry here hold you to that.” 

Barry cleared his throat again, placing a hand on the table. “Who wants dessert?”

* * *

For the first time since Hal had arrived in Coast City, everything was slowing down. First, there’d been the excitement of him coming home. Catching up with his family. Spending time with his dad. Then, going to the airfield with his dad. Following the plane crash, everything spiraled into absolute agony. The days following the crash consisted of more tears than the human body should ever be allowed to cry, talking to this person and that person to make arrangements for the funeral and the body, and then, finally, the funeral itself. Hal’s world had stopped completely, but everything around him just kept spinning and spinning. He wanted to throw up.

Through it all, Barry had been there. Most of the time, he’d been quiet, but he’d been there. Barry’s arrival came the day after the crash, so it was only a few days ago, but the time was already a big blur to Hal. He just remembered that sometimes, someone he didn’t know would ask him a question he couldn’t answer. Barry would look at him, ask him the same question but in a way he could understand. Hal would give Barry his answer, and Barry would serve as a kind of translator. 

Then there was the moments where Barry sat with Hal in silence, alone together in his childhood bedroom or the roof of the house. If Hal didn’t say anything, neither did Barry. If Hal started talking about his dad, Barry would just listen. 

But for the entire week, he was there. Hal could only remember bits and pieces of moments, but that much he knew. 

Now, he was sitting on the floor of Barry’s hotel room, his back to the bed. He wasn’t sure how he’d ended up on the floor instead of somewhere more comfortable like the bed or a chair, but the silence of the room somehow kept him there. As though if he were to move, the world would start spinning again, just like it had at his family’s home. 

But with the silence came the crash replaying in his mind over and over. It didn’t matter if he shut his eyes or if they were open. The scene was forever on loop and he couldn’t shut it off. He almost didn’t want to. He was afraid to. If he shut it off, if he started to forget, what else would he forget? His dad’s smile? The way he spoke with him? The memories of his dad suddenly felt like grains of sand that he was desperately trying to keep within his hands. He had to remember every single little detail, every little memory. Anything that was forgotten, no matter how small, was another piece of his dad that he couldn’t get back. What color were the shoes he’d been wearing? Black or brown? He couldn’t bring it to mind. It could have been his dad’s favorite shoes but he couldn’t remember, and now, his dad couldn’t count on his son to remember if he was wearing his favorite shoes or not. 

It was here in the silence of the hotel room that he was finally realizing these things. Everything felt so fragile. 

“Hal?” It was a voice speaking softly. It was Barry, kneeling next to him with a glass of water and some meds. “You said you had a headache, so I got some ibuprofen out of my bag. Here.” 

Did he have a headache? He didn’t know, but he took the pills, downing them with the glass of water. Barry took the glass afterwards, setting it on a nearby end table, then returned to Hal’s side, sitting on the floor with him. 

“Our plane leaves at eleven,” Barry said. “If we’re up early enough, we can grab breakfast before we hit the airport.”

Hal heard the words, but they didn’t register. He nodded, an automatic movement. He wasn’t even looking at Barry. His eyes were locked straight ahead, staring into space as his mind continued to play the crash on loop. 

He remembered something, a detail he’d forgotten until now. How could he forget? After a moment of silence, his voice came out quietly. 

“Does it ever stop?”

Barry looked at him with a deep frown, then looked down. “No. Not really. You just kinda….make room for it.”

“How?”

Barry swallowed. “Hard to say. You keep going because you have to.”

What a vague answer. What a vague, bullshit answer. It made Hal angry. Why didn’t instances like this come with an instruction book of clear directions for what he was supposed to do? Yet, at the same time, Barry’s answers were some of the most honest he’d heard yet. Most everyone was just telling him it would take time to move on. Yeah, well, that was a bunch of bullshit. He would never move on from this. That’s not how it worked. So, his anger wasn’t towards Barry. If anything, he appreciated him right now. 

“I hate being afraid.”

“I know,” Barry said quietly. “It’s okay if you are though. You know that, right?”

Hal shook his head. No, no, it wasn’t okay. Fear was paralyzing. Fear kept him from moving. Look at him, he wanted to say. Look at him, Barry, here on the floor. It was pathetic. He didn’t want to wallow. He didn’t want to be powerless to his grief. His dad was an incredible man who deserved better from his son. He needed to _be_ better. 

So why was it that whenever he closed his eyes and saw the crash over and over again, he couldn’t move?

He heard himself breathing rapidly. It didn’t sound natural, but he was too lost in his own mind to understand what was going on. The room was spinning and he was getting dizzy. His hands were shaking. His father’s voice was in his head, saying he’d see him soon. Then he saw him get on the plane, and he was only taking rapid, shallow breaths as the room spun. 

“Hal? Hal, can you hear me? You’re hyperventilating. Slow your breathing.”

The autopilot was malfunctioning, Carol had said. He couldn’t shut it off. The autopilot. It was said to be safe. It had been tested. It was so expensive and was supposed to keep his dad safe. It had been tested. His dad was going down.

Short, shallow breaths. Shaking hands. Heart pounding in his chest. Room spinning.

“Hal, you’re having a panic attack. You’re okay. You’re not in any danger. Breathe deeply, from your belly.”

Can’t breathe, can’t breathe, can’t breathe. 

A strong, warm hand clasped around his own. What hand? Barry’s hand. Barry squeezed his hand tightly, their fingers intertwined. 

“I’m with you, Hal. I’m with you. You’re not in danger. Focus on me. Breathe from your belly.” 

Barry’s hand was grounding him. He wanted to respond, but couldn’t get any words out. He nodded, trying to refocus his breathing as Barry had said. He’d never had a panic attack before in his life and barely knew what they even were, but he did know that he trusted Barry. Slowly he became more aware that he was here in the hotel room with Barry and not on the airfield watching his dad go down again and again. 

“I’m not leaving you, Hal. Breathe. You’re okay.” 

He was okay. 

“You’re okay.”

He was okay.

Fuck. Fuck, what a mess of a person he was. His mom was right. He was irresponsible and selfish and he’d never be able to live up to his dad and…..

Barry placed his other hand on Hal’s face, gently directing the brunet’s attention to him. For the past several days, Hal had avoided looking right at Barry— or anyone else. But now, he was looking directly into gentle blue eyes for the first time in days, and everything slowed down again. Slow, slow, until the room wasn’t spinning anymore, his hands weren’t shaking, and he could breathe again. 

“You’re okay,” Barry assured him again, keeping eye contact. 

Hal coughed briefly and nodded. He was okay. Oh, god. What the hell was he doing? Had he allowed himself to fall so far that Barry had to talk him down from a panic attack? He pulled his hand from Barry’s, pulling his gaze away as well in favor of looking at the floor. The reality of the moment came crashing down on him all at once, and suddenly he had a whole new set of problems. 

Barry looked down as well. “I, uh...do you need anything?”

Hal shook his head, still unable to look at him again. “No, but….what made you fly over here?”

“What do you mean?” Hal had just gotten out of a panic attack, and that was the first thing out of his mouth? Barry was puzzled.

“What made you fly all the way over here? You’ve never been to Coast City before.”

Barry frowned. “I wanted to help you. Is something wrong?”

“Most people wouldn’t fly across the country for their roommate at a moment’s notice.”

Barry’s brows furrowed. He was bothered by that statement, and it took him a moment to figure out how he wanted to respond. “We’re friends, Hal. I don’t understand what this is about.” 

Hal pushed himself up to his feet and climbed onto the bed they’d been sitting behind, stretching himself out on the left side. Truthfully, he didn’t know what kind of response he’d been hoping for from Barry. He wasn’t even really sure what he’d been asking. He could probably chalk it up to not being able to think straight for the past several days, but there was still something that nagged at him about the way Barry acted around him all the time. Barry was always kind, going out of his way to help Hal even when Hal didn’t deserve it. Like giving him those protein bars and ibuprofen while he was on his hangover, and then walking him to class. Sure, Barry was kind in general towards other people, but...the way Barry had held his hand and held his face...it felt like something other than just trying to calm him down from a panic attack. And he didn’t know if he could look at him right now. 

He expected Barry to get up on the bed with him, but he didn’t. The blond remained on the floor, making the distance between them feel massive in an otherwise small room. 

A long silence filled the room, until Hal’s voice broke it as he laid in bed. “Do you...remember how it happened? With your mom, I mean, you were a kid…”

“Yeah,” Barry answered quietly from the floor. Oh, he remembered alright. He remembered everything.

“You’ve never talked about it.”

“I know. If it’s all the same, I’d rather not.”

“Do you know who did it?”

Barry paused, taking a breath, then spoke. “No.”

“But you want to find out.”

“Yes, Hal. I’ve told you this. So I can free my dad.”

“But you said you saw the person that day. Was it a stranger then?”

Barry stood up, looking at Hal laying on the bed, and glared at him. It was clear he was trying not to look angry, but Hal was pushing one too many buttons right now. There were a lot of things that Barry would talk to Hal openly about, and had, in fact. But the topic of his mom was off-limits. In the past, Barry had given a run-down of what happened because Hal had been nice enough to believe when he said his dad didn’t murder his mom. But as far as what Barry had actually seen that day...Barry had never talked about it. Hal should know that Barry didn’t want to talk about it, so Barry couldn’t help but feel a little upset that he was bringing this up, especially right after his own father’s death. 

Barry’s voice was gentle, but firm. “You won’t make sense of what happened to your dad by learning about what happened to my mom. Digging up my old wounds isn’t going to help you heal. I’m your friend. I’ll help you with whatever you need, but that’s only going to make us both feel worse. My mom was murdered. Your dad had an accident. None of it makes sense. I’m sorry to tell you this, but it may not ever make sense. If you don’t mind, I’d like to leave my mom out of this. I’ll talk about anything else, I’ll do other favors for you, but I want my mom left out.”

Hal looked at him from the bed, and frowned deeply. “Barry, I’m sorry. I just….” He trailed off. 

Barry bit his lip and turned away, walking towards the bathroom. “Don’t worry about it. I’m gonna take a shower. When I get out, I’ll order us some pizza for dinner.”

Hal winced as the door shut behind the blond. Unsure of what to do with himself, he got out of bed and walked towards the window. Looking past his reflection, he placed a hand on the window, looking towards the sky. 

What this his life now? Was this the person he was now? Actually, he had no idea who he even was at all. Who was Hal Jordan, exactly? Was it the drunk that stumbled into a cheap apartment shared with an intelligent science student at two in the morning? Was it the kid that grew up on the airfield, watching his dad fly all the time? Was it the disappointing son who got bad grades and fought with his mom and brothers? 

Was it something else? 

Hal knew something had to change. _He_ had to change. He refused to become a product of his fears, even after such a tragedy. Especially after this tragedy. He wasn’t the son that his father had raised, and he didn’t know who that son was, but there was only one way he was going to figure it out: by going toe-to-toe with everything he was afraid of, no matter how much he was hurting.

The real Hal Jordan, the person he was meant to be, was within him somewhere and he was going to bring him out. He was going to grab him by the collar, tell him to get his shit together, and face his fears. That’s the only way he was going to get through this. 

If he didn’t, he was going to crash and burn, too.


	3. Independence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hal contemplates his future, but Barry feels his friend might be isolating himself.

Hal could remember it clearly. It was last summer, the Fourth of July. The sun had set in the clear summer sky, giving way to a blanket of stars above them. Ferris Air was closed for the Independence Day festivities, making it much easier for Hal and his dad to sneak into the facilities to do what they’d routinely done since Hal was no taller than his dad’s waist: flying. Sometimes Hal wondered if Ferris staff were aware of his dad sneaking in for this and had just decided they didn’t care because he was their best pilot, or if they had no idea because his dad knew how to navigate the system because he’d been working there for so long. Hal wasn’t sure, but he knew that the security guards were really friendly with his dad whenever they came around. 

The rest of Coast City were attending Fourth of July celebrations. Hal and Martin Jordan had an Independence Day all their own. 

Prior to that, it had been a few years since Hal had flown with him. It wasn’t from lack of wanting. Hal’s mom had interfered, putting a stop to it for a while out of concern for Hal’s safety. This had greatly upset Hal, who begged his dad to take him flying again anyway. For a long time, Martin had resisted, until that day in July. 

Each time his dad had taken him flying, since he was a kid, he’d watched how his dad operated the plane. He paid attention the buttons he pushed and when he pushed them. He paid attention to how he moved the wheel and when he flipped certain switches. As the technology changed as Hal grew older, he made note whenever he noticed something new, trying to figure out what the changes were and what they meant. 

That day had been special. When they got up in the air, high in the sky, they saw the fireworks from the various festivities in the city at an angle no one else in the city could see them at. Hal almost felt like he could reach out and touch them. 

“Wooow,” Hal said in awe, staring out the windows as they hovered in the air. 

He heard his dad chuckle from the pilot’s seat in front of him. “Looks pretty amazing, doesn’t it?”

“You’re not kidding. You thought fireworks were amazing from the ground? Look at this, dad. We are the fireworks.” 

“Well, the thing about fireworks is that they’re big and bright, but they’re gone quickly. I like to think that when we show our colors, it lasts a lot longer.” There was a pause. “That was a little cheesy, wasn’t it?”

Hal grinned. “A little bit.”

His dad laughed. “My point is that when you show the world who you are, it’s a lot more beautiful than a firework.”

“Where’d all this ‘dad wisdom’ come from all of a sudden?”

The plane looped in the air before it circled back around, heading back to the Ferris facility. “What makes you happy, son? Think of that, and go for it. There’s no limits. After all, you’re a Jordan. Nothing can keep you down.” 

At the time, it didn’t seem to make any sense. It wasn’t like his dad to speak cryptically, yet that’s what he’d been doing. Hal didn’t get it, but he was so happy up there in the sky that he didn’t think too much about it. By the time they were on the ground again, the conversation was almost out of his mind entirely. He’d been between confusing and discouraging college semesters, and nothing made him happier than being in the sky. 

That was the last time he’d flown with his dad. 

_“After all, you’re a Jordan. Nothing can keep you down.”_

* * *

“Hal?”

A voice was breaking into his thoughts, which made him unhappy. This was such a pleasant memory and he didn’t want to be pulled out of it. 

“Hal, did you hear me?” Barry asked, looking up from the work on his laptop. The pair were sat across from each other at a small dining room table in the small kitchen of their shared apartment. 

Hal was wearing earbuds, but pulled one of them out. “I was watching this video. What did you say?”

Barry continued, “I said you don’t have to go back to your classes tomorrow. Email your professors about what happened and they’ll probably give you some time off, though they might ask for...documentation. But, you don’t have to go back right away.” 

“I’m going back,” Hal said, redirecting his attention to his computer. 

Barry blinked. “Are you...sure?”

“You said yourself last week that I’ve already missed too many days.”

“This is different,” Barry said with a frown. 

Hal took another healthy sip of his beer. “I’m going back.”

“Okay...well, if that’s what you’re most comfortable with.”

“Bar. Do me a favor.”

“Sure, what is it?”

“Lay off me.” 

Barry winced. It was clear he was bothered by the comment, but he tried to play it off like it didn’t. “Yeah. Of course. Sorry.” 

Hal finished off the rest of the beer he was drinking and got up, crushing the can in his hands and tossing it in the trash lazily. It was his last one and he feeling annoyed by the fact. Should have picked more up when they got back the other day. 

“I’m going out,” he said.

“Oh. Uh. Alright,” Barry said, looking up from his computer again. There was a lot more he wanted to say, but he had to be careful not to push Hal’s buttons. He wanted to tell him not to stay out too late since it was a school night, but... “Do you have your keys?”

“Yeah,” Hal said from the door, grabbing his jacket. “Later.”

The door opened and shut. Just like that, Hal was gone. 

Barry frowned. He worried when Hal went out like this, but now he worried for a whole new set of reasons. Hal was reckless, but did he need someone to hold him back? Was Barry that person? Could he even be held back at all? 

He didn’t want Hal to destroy himself, but he couldn’t help but be concerned. Hal was already on a bad path before losing his father. What would happen to him now with that loss? 

Realizing that Hal had left his computer open and running, Barry got up with the intention of shutting it down for him, or at least putting it on sleep mode. However, when he glanced at what was on the screen, he was taken aback for a moment.

The open tab on the screen was a video playing on Wayne University’s website about their aviation program. Barry was somewhat familiar with it. Not that many years ago, the university had been granted funding to expand their aviation program to include an airfield and other facilities. Graduates went on to careers in major airline companies, the United States Air Force, or other government and flight careers. 

Hal had never expressed interest in it before. In a way, that had puzzled Barry because he knew that Hal liked planes from flying with his dad and spending time with him on the airfield growing up. 

Was Hal finally considering a major? And following in his dad’s footsteps, no less?

Truthfully, he was a bit unsure what to make of this. It hadn’t even been a full week since Hal’s dad had died in a plane crash yet. But, if this was what Hal was doing….

Barry closed the laptop and returned to his seat. He couldn’t spend every waking second worrying about Hal when his own work was piling up, he knew that. But Hal was unpredictable, and Barry really wanted to know what was going through his mind. 

But, that would have to wait.

* * *

In the middle of the school week, Barry found himself eating his lunch alone. Sometimes he had company and sometimes he didn’t, depending on the day. Hal would occasionally eat with him, but Hal also had the tendency to get distracted by some girl he wanted to talk to or whatever else. No big deal. It wasn’t uncommon for Barry to end up burying himself in his work during his lunches anyway, and not everyone wanted to hear about whatever chemistry problem he was working on. 

So it wasn’t a strange site to find him with his lunch on one side of him, and an open textbook on the other side. Currently, he was working his way through a sandwich while trying to solve an equation. 

A heavy figure appeared at his table across from him, placing a tray of food down. A stammering but gentle voice broke Barry’s concentration. “Hey, Barry. Is this seat taken?”

Barry looked up and greeted his friend with a smile. “Help yourself, Clark.”

“Thanks,” Clark said, taking his seat. He pushed his thick-rimmed glasses further up the bridge of his nose and frowned. “I heard about Hal’s dad.”

Barry frowned also. “Ah, did he tell you?”

Clark shook his head. “It’s been on the news. Ferris Air is being investigated. There’s talk about a wrongful death lawsuit from Hal’s family. You didn’t hear?”

Barry couldn’t believe what he was hearing. It was difficult to get Hal to talk much since the accident, but he was sure that Hal would have mentioned something like this. He couldn’t hide his shocked expression from Clark, and shook his head. “No, I haven’t. Hal hasn’t said anything.”

Clark tapped his chin thoughtfully. “That’s strange.” He pulled out his cell phone, tapping at it until he pulled up a relevant article. When he pulled it up, he handed his phone to Barry.

Barry took the phone, examining the article carefully. “I can’t believe this. I haven’t heard about this at all….”

“Hal really hasn’t mentioned it?”

“Not at all. I’m wondering if he even knows.”

“What makes you say that?”

Barry paused. Hal would no doubt be very angry with him for sharing details about his personal life with others, even if Clark was a friend. However, Barry trusted Clark. 

“After the funeral, Hal got into a…disagreement with his family. They haven’t resolved it yet.”

“I see. So you think they may not have even told him.”

“Yeah,” Barry said, handing Clark back his phone. “Can you send me a link to that article?”

“Of course. Sorry I had to be the one to break the news. I thought you guys knew.”

Barry waved his hand dismissively. “It’s not your fault. I guess I’ll have to talk to him later…”

Clark frowned and cleared his throat. He hesitated for a moment, then finally spoke again. “How is he doing?”

How was Hal doing? That wasn’t an easy question to answer. Somehow, he’d decided to take no days off and had been attending all of his classes since the week had started. Normally, Hal would look for any excuse to take days off. Now that he had a legitimate reason, all he wanted to do was work. When Barry came home to the apartment from the chemistry lab the other day, he’d found Hal actually doing homework. It was such a rare sight that Barry could hardly believe it. Hal hadn’t been talking to him much, but not out of malice. He just seemed distracted, and Barry’s schedule was so loaded with work right now that he didn’t have much time anyway. 

Yet, at the same time, Barry was noticing the empty beer cans in the trash. It wasn’t clear how much Hal was drinking, but he hoped it wasn’t a lot. 

“It’s hard to say,” Barry said. “He’s been...quiet. I told him he could talk, but you know Hal.”

“Hal? Quiet? Heh, that’s a rare sight.”

Barry smiled a little. “Yeah, tell me about it. I live with the guy.”

Clark chuckled briefly before turning serious again. “Send him my condolences, will you? If he needs anything, you guys can give me a call.” 

“Of course. Thanks, Clark. Ever since I flew to Coast City, he just...hasn’t been himself.”

Now that comment caught Clark’s attention. He frowned, glancing at Barry from over the top rim of his glasses. Barry almost felt like he could see right through him. “Coast City? You flew to Hal’s home?”

“Yeah,” Barry said quietly. “He just...needed help. So I cancelled my planes and flew over to help with the arrangements and things.” 

“Wow. You really care about him a lot, don’t you?”

“He’s my friend. I just don’t wanna see him go down a path he’ll regret.”

Clark reached over and put a large, reassuring hand on Barry’s shoulder. Sometimes Barry forgot how tall he was. “As long as he has someone as loyal as you, I know he’ll be just fine.” 

“Thanks,” Barry said, smiling a little. “How about you? How’ve you been? Lois still giving you a run for your money?”

Clark was a journalism major who also worked on the university’s newspaper, the Wayne Herald. Since he’d been there, he’d met Lois Lane, who took her position there very seriously because she had high aspirations of working for the Daily Planet in Metropolis after she graduated. She was a hell of a woman. Barry could tell that Clark seemed rather captivated with her, but Clark never liked to talk much about it. 

Clark cleared his throat. “No one can keep up with her, if that’s what you mean. She was a little distracted last time I saw her, though, because she found out Bruce Wayne started attending classes here.”

“Yeah, I know. He’s in one of my classes,” Barry said casually. 

Clark’s eyes widened. “Is he really? Don’t let Lois hear you say that. She’s been trying to get an interview with him for days. Apparently he’s hard to get a hold of.” 

Barry chuckled. It was sort of strange for him to think about because the Bruce Wayne in his chemistry class just seemed so….carefree. He hardly seemed to pay attention in class, and was gone quickly as soon as the classes ended, unless he got caught up talking to a girl, which happened occasionally. But he seemed to have no interest in the class at all, and whenever the professor called on him during discussions, he almost always gave wrong answers.

It was strange because Bruce was so rich he didn’t have to take classes or get a degree if he didn’t want to. And since he seemed to have no interest, why did he bother? This university had been founded by someone in his family several generations ago, so him being on campus was the talk of some gossip from people both in and out of the university. The press couldn’t figure out why he was in school either because he seemed like such a playboy. There were a lot of theories, but nothing that seemed to hold well.

Bruce was an enigma in general. He’d spent a few years overseas, with little to no contact with the press. No one really knew what he was doing, but the general consensus was that he was partying in various places around the globe, since partying seemed to be all he cared about. He returned to Gotham last summer, and now was taking classes at Wayne University. When Barry found out he was in his class, he hadn’t thought much of it. Truth be told, he didn’t get the excitement. Yeah, Bruce had a famous face, but the truth was, he was pretty underwhelming and didn’t seem to care about much of anything.

Barry would much rather talk to people like Clark because even though Clark was a bit awkward, quiet, and fumbled in his speech sometimes, he had a genuine heart. Not that Barry had anything against Bruce, it was just that he didn’t understand people like him. Then again, he could barely understand Hal either. In any event, he appreciated his friendship with Clark ever since the pair had crossed paths in a literature class a couple of years ago. Through Barry, Clark had met Hal last year. The three had been friends ever since. 

“The only people that Bruce Wayne seems interested in talking to are ones in short skirts,” Barry said. “I don’t know what Lois is expecting out of an interview. That guy doesn’t even like talking to our chemistry professor.” 

Clark shrugged. “Beats me. I mean, he hardly ever talks to major journalists, let alone a college student.” 

A woman with long, dark hair approached the table, carrying a tray of food and looking concerned. “Barry, I heard about Hal’s dad. I’ve been trying to get in touch with him. Is he doing okay?”

Barry looked up at his friend. “Hey, Diana. He’s...doing as well as he can be, but he might not be in the mood to talk. Why don’t you join me and Clark?”

Clark gave Diana a friendly nod, gesturing to the seat next to him. She took a seat next to Clark and across from Barry. 

“Did you see it on the news too?” Barry asked.

Diana nodded. “Yes, I couldn’t believe it. That was the first I’d heard.”

“I guess Hal hasn’t been ready to call people.”

“I understand. How did it happen?”

Barry finished his sandwich, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “An autopilot system in the plane he was flying malfunctioned and they couldn’t get it to shut off before the plane went down.”

Diana frowned deeply. “I see…”

Barry wondered offhandedly how many times he would have to explain this to people he and Hal knew. Of course, that was a task that was worlds worse for Hal, but it seemed like Hal was avoiding telling anyone. Almost like he was avoiding the incident altogether. Could that be why Hal seemed to dive in headfirst to his school work that he’d been neglecting before? Barry knew that the grieving process wasn’t a smooth, linear road but he hoped that this didn’t lead to Hal adopting more dangerous and unhealthy behaviors down the road. 

Seeing Barry was in a bit of a mental fog, Clark spoke up. “Hal saw the whole thing happen, since he was home visiting his family.”

“That’s awful…,” Diana said. She looked to Barry. “Send him my condolences. I hope he’s at least talking with you.”

Barry frowned, tapping his pencil on the table. “It...depends on his mood. Thanks, Diana.”

Diana gave him a sympathetic smile. “I know Hal can be difficult, but he needs you now more than ever, even if he doesn’t show it. He’s lucky to have a friend like you, Barry. He will see that eventually.”

Even though Barry couldn’t help but be afraid for Hal, it was nice to hear those words anyway. All the friends that Barry and Hal had knew the two were friends and not just roommates. Not many people knew how to talk to Hal unless it was someone who wanted to sleep with him, but with Barry it was always different. Somehow, Barry usually spoke Hal’s language. However, lately, that had been different, even before his dad’s death. Barry wanted to believe Diana right now, but it was also hard, and he was still afraid of losing Hal. Or, worse, Hal losing himself.

“I appreciate it,” he said. “I’m just...doing what I can.”

Diana and Clark both nodded.

Barry glanced at his watch and realized that he should have left for class several minutes ago. Panic filled him as he quickly began scrambling to pack his stuff up. “I gotta run, guys. Thanks for the chat. Talk to you both soon?”

“Of course, Barry,” Clark said. “I’ll send you the link to that article.”

“Take care of yourself, Barry,” Diana added.

Barry nodded, slinging his messenger back over his shoulder. He waved at Clark and Diana while rushing off.

* * *

Most weekdays, Hal was home before Barry. This was largely because Barry often wound up spending extra time in the lab or the library doing research and studying. Today, Barry didn’t spend too much time doing those things and decided to head home a little earlier than normal. He figured Hal would already be in the apartment, but he wasn’t. Huh. Maybe Hal was having a hectic day? Well, Barry already planned to cook this evening. Maybe he could make extra for Hal, too. It wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for him to do so. 

He’d recently been grocery shopping and was really looking forward to having some chicken and potatoes, so that’s what he decided to cook up. Cooking wasn’t too bad, really. It was like working in a lab. You just had to know what was compatible with what. Hal, on the other hand, was a pretty poor cook and often ate cheap dinners or takeout. Barry could be guilty of that sometimes, but he tried not to do it as much. 

He was peeling potatoes when the front door opened and Hal walked in. In the past, Barry would be able to tell Hal’s mood immediately based on the way he carried himself when he entered the door. Since they’d come back from Coast City following his dad’s accident, Hal’s demeanor was almost always the same. Sure, it hadn’t been that long and he most definitely didn’t blame Hal, but Barry missed the pep in his step. That would come back eventually, wouldn’t it?

“Hey, Hal, if you’re hungry, I’m cooking tonight.” 

Hal looked startled as he took off his jacket and shoes at the door, like Barry had shaken him out of a trance. “Huh? Oh, sure. Thanks.” 

He threw his backpack on the couch, digging into it and pulling out a couple of pamphlets. Finding them, he brought them over to the kitchen where Barry was still peeling potatoes, and sat them on the counter in his field of vision. “Read ‘em and weep.” 

Barry glanced at the pamphlets, back at Hal, back at the pamphlets, then back at Hal. He didn’t even have to act surprised because even though he’d seen the information on Hal’s computer the other day, he hadn’t fully expected him to follow through. 

“Hal, is this what I think it is?”

Hal was grinning. He crossed his arms. “Yup. The new aviation program. I’ve been talking to them the past few days. I’m in.”

Barry wanted to smile, but his mind immediately went straight back to the article that Clark had showed him. He didn’t expect Hal’s mind to change though. This was Hal after all. Whenever he wanted something, he went for it no matter what. The problem was that he didn’t want to ruin his good mood. “That’s great, Hal. I’m happy for you. You’ll fit right in.”

Hal looked at him strangely. “What’s wrong?”

Was Barry that obvious? Most of the time, he didn’t think Hal could read him that well, but was that just because Hal didn’t usually act on it? Or was Barry just making it especially obvious this time when he didn’t want to? Either way, he hesitated. He knew it was a conversation he had to have with Hal, but he wasn’t exactly excited about it. 

He frowned, putting down his peeler and the potato he’d been working on so he could focus on Hal. “I saw Clark today. He showed me an article about your dad. The article says that your family is suing Ferris Air for wrongful death.”

Hal looked down. “I...I know.”

That caught Barry by surprise. “You knew?”

“Yeah. Jim called me the other day and told me.”

“Oh. I wouldn’t have said anything if I thought you knew. How do you feel about it?”

Hal shook his head. “I...don’t know. Where’s the article?”

Barry pulled his phone, opening up the message Clark had sent him with the link. After opening up the link, he handed Hal his phone. “Clark and Diana sends their condolences, by the way. Neither of them knew what happened until they saw the news, but I think word is starting to get out.” 

Hal didn’t appear to hear him. It was hard to read his face as his eyes scanned the article on Barry’s phone, but he took a long moment to read it. After a couple of minutes he handed Barry his phone back, a pained expression on his face. 

“It won’t...bring him back,” Hal said quietly. 

Barry wasn’t sure how to respond to that because while Hal was right, he wanted to choose his words carefully. “Your family is struggling just like you are. I’m sure they’re doing what they think is right.”

Hal angrily grabbed the pamphlets off the counter, crushing them in his fist. “I’m _not_ like them. They are _running_. I’m not running, Bar. Does this—” He showed Barry the papers again, dangling them in front of his face, “ — look like running to you?”

Suddenly, Hal wanting to fly made so much sense. 

“I know you’re not running,” Barry said evenly. “I think it’s great that you’ve chosen to fly. It’s perfect for you. All I’m saying, is that in situations like these…everyone struggles in their own ways. I know it’s not my family. I won’t say more if you don’t want me to, I just wanted to make you aware of something I thought you didn’t know. My main concern…”

Shit. Where was he going with that? He completely lost his train of thought in the middle of his sentence. Hal was staring at him, waiting for him to finish, which wasn’t helping at all. 

“Your main concern is what?” Hal pressed. 

“Is you,” Barry heard himself say. Crap, that sounded weird. He had to make it less weird. “Because you’re my friend.” 

Silence. Hal was staring at him and Barry couldn’t read his expression. What could he do? Barry tried to act casual, continuing to prepare dinner but Hal’s silence was deafening and Barry had no idea what it meant. Had he said too much? Was Hal mad? 

Barry sighed. “I’m sorry. I can stay out of your business.” 

Hal hesitated, looking down and scratching the back of his neck. “Bar, you’re the only one who ever asks me about my business.” 

“Hal…”

“You’re my best friend, Bar.”

Barry smiled a little. “Honestly, Hal, you’re mine too. I’m excited for you. You’ll make an amazing pilot.” 

Hal stuffed his hands in his pockets. He almost looked a little sheepish. Almost. “I tried to call my mom after I left my advisor’s office to tell her about the aviation program. She didn’t answer, so I left her a voicemail. She sent me back a text message a few minutes later, asking me if I wanted to suffer the same fate as dad.”

That gave Barry a pause. Given how the two had been fighting after the accident, and given what Barry had picked up from her during the time he was in Coast City, it wasn’t entirely surprising. But it was still incredibly harsh when the wounds were so fresh. How in the world could anyone respond to something like that? People tended to say things they didn’t mean in sensitive situations like these, particularly when they were grieving, but this would be a weight on Hal that he wouldn’t soon forget. 

“It’s not going to change my mind,” Hal said. “They say you shouldn’t make decisions after you lose someone, but I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life. This is it, Barry. This is what I have to do. I have to be a pilot, just like him.”

“Then do it, Hal. Follow your gut.”

Hal smiled a little. “Follow my gut, huh? Dad used to say the same thing.”

Barry smiled with him. “Then you know what to do.”

“After all, I’m a Jordan. Nothing can keep me down.”


	4. Degeneration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hal stumbles on his road to recovery.

Things seemed to be looking up for Hal, all things considered. Since the funeral a few months ago, something in him had just clicked and he was working on turning himself completely around. He was doing his best, and Barry knew it couldn’t have been easy, but he was proud of him. 

He’d been working harder than he ever had before and was bringing his grades up. He hadn’t missed a single day of classes since the funeral, which in itself was amazing. Best of all, he’d recently started some classes on flight training and seemed to be really enjoying it. There was a new kind of confidence in him that Barry hadn’t seen in several months. It was hard to tell where exactly it had come from, but a spark had been lit in him and he didn’t seem to be slowing down. 

Barry retained some concerns, though. The changes in Hal’s personality just seemed so sudden that it was jarring. Hal insisted that he was fine and doing better than ever, so Barry didn’t push it too much, but he continued to keep an eye on him. Even though it had been a few months since the funeral, that still wasn’t a long period when it came to losing someone so close. 

But, in any event, Hal was working hard and his efforts were paying off. That much was fantastic. 

On most days, Barry arrived home before Hal. Today, Barry was taking advantage of the time by sitting at his desk in his bedroom, working on some homework. Sometimes when Hal was home, it was hard to concentrate because Hal made a point to make himself a distraction. Hopefully he could get some work done now and if Hal came home, he’d see Barry’s closed bedroom door and get the hint. 

He was working on writing up a lab report when he heard the front door and the recognizable sound of Hal’s footsteps. Not paying it any mind, he continued typing.

After a moment, Hal knocked on Barry’s bedroom door, then opened it without waiting for a response. This wasn’t unusual for Hal, and it drove Barry a little more mad each time he did it.

“Hey, Barry! Put your nerd stuff away and come with me.”

Barry glanced over at Hal with his brows furrowed. “Hal, I’ve asked you to wait for me to respond before you open my door.”

“Yeah, sure, just get your shoes on and come with me.”

“Is it urgent? This lab report is due by morning.” 

“It’s Friday night, Barry! You’re always chained to your desk. Enjoy the nightlife with me for a change.”

Barry looked at him suspiciously, had a realization, then looked back at his computer. “You need a designated driver.”

“Okay, yeah, but I asked you first. Best friend privileges.”

There were a few things to consider. First, usually, if Hal wanted to go out he would find a way to do so. Most times, he would find a taxi home or, if he was sober enough and the bar was close enough, he’d walk home. Why was tonight different? Did he want to get especially drunk, or did he actually want to spend time with Barry? Second, if he did want to get especially drunk, it probably would be best if someone was with him. 

Well. Crap. That last point alone was enough to sell him. 

So much for this lab report. He’d likely be up all night to get it in by the morning due time once he got back. 

He closed his textbooks and his laptop with a sigh. “Alright. Let me get my shoes.”

Hal pumped his fist and grinned widely. “Yes! I knew you’d see it my way.”

“You owe me lunch, Hal.” Barry was mostly teasing. Mostly.

“I’ll buy you _dinner_ for this, Bar.”

* * *

Barry had been in this bar before. With Hal, of course, but that had been several months ago. He didn’t drink much, but once in a while he might have something. Tonight wouldn’t be the time for that though, because he’d driven Hal to one of the nicest bars in Gotham. A strange crowd of people flowed in and out of here, but Gotham was kind of strange in general. Of course, this was the city that had rumors of a guy dressed as a bat running around the city beating up bad guys at night. It didn’t get much stranger than Gotham. 

Since it was Friday, the place was pretty full. Hal and Barry were able to find themselves a seat at the bar, chatting with each other and occasionally glancing at the baseball game on TV. 

Now that he was here, Barry thought this was kind of nice. He and Hal didn’t hang out enough outside of the apartment lately, he thought. They should do that more often. 

“It’s all about physics,” Hal was saying. He was rambling and slurring a bit because he’d already had a few drinks, but Barry didn’t mind. If anything, hearing Hal talk about flying was actually kind of fascinating. “Physics. You’re a science nerd, you get me. Anything that rotates or moves will always turn about its center of gravity. When you’re talking about planes and their rotation around the center of gravity, it’s called….shit, wait. It’s called a ‘moment.’ A ‘moment’ is the product of the force applied and the distance at which the force is applied.”

Barry smiled a little. “This stuff really interests you, doesn’t it?”

Hal nodded. “It’s not as bad as you might think. The safety stuff gets kinda boring though. Safety, safety, safety.”

“That’s because it’s the most important part.”

“Depends on who you ask,” Hal said with a grin. He started to get up from his seat. “I’m gonna put some real music on this jukebox instead of this emo crap. Hold my seat, will ya?”

“Sure thing.” 

Just as Hal started to walk off, he bumped into a guy taller and more muscular than him that he hadn’t seen coming. 

“Sorry, man,” Hal said.

The stranger grunted, looking annoyed. “Watch it, Jordan,” he said harshly.

Hal stopped, turning back. “Maybe _you_ need to watch where _you’re_ going, meathead.” 

Hearing that made Barry turn around in his seat. Since Hal already had a few to drink, it was likely that his short fuse was currently even shorter than normal. Getting into a bar fight was the last thing Hal needed right now when he was working so hard to improve himself and his life lately. The stranger wasn’t even anyone they knew that well. Barry recognized the guy from campus and he was pretty sure Hal had a class with him before, but it wasn’t anyone worth getting into a fight with. 

“Hal,” Barry called calmly. “I think you were on your way to the jukebox.” 

Neither man seemed to hear him, and the stranger definitely didn’t appreciate Hal’s little comment. 

“Pretty sure a _Jordan_ isn’t in any place to lecture anyone on where they’re going,” the man said, standing face to face with Hal now. The anger rippled off both men, filling the space around them with tension. 

Hal’s irritation quickly turned to anger as his expression darkened. “You better watch your mouth, asshole.” 

Barry got up from his seat, grabbing Hal’s arm. “Come on, Hal. This isn’t worth it.”

Once again, ignoring Barry, the man stepped closer to Hal. He looked like he might throw a fist at any second. “You mean like your dear old dad should have been watching where he was going? Too bad he was shitty pilot.” 

Hal’s body jerked forward for attack, but Barry was faster and stopped him by wrapping his arms around him. The blond felt protective instincts spike in him and so help him, he was not going to let anyone hurt Hal like this, and he wasn’t going to let Hal do something he would regret. This time, his words weren’t for Hal.

“Knock it off,” Barry said to the man, voice laced with anger as he continued holding Hal back. “You need to leave, before _I_ make you regret coming here tonight.”

The man finally looked at him, faking shock at his comment, then looked back at Hal. “You and your friend here are a real pair of rejects, you know that? Your dad might have been a shitty pilot, but at least he wasn’t a murderer.”

If something hadn’t snapped in Hal before that, it definitely did now. Barry, feeling himself in shock from the words, felt Hal break out of his grasp and lunge forward. The brunet’s fist connected hard with the man’s jaw. Everyone in the bar gasped as their attention was directed to the fight.

The man recoiled from the hit, but recovered quickly, glaring darkly at Hal. Barry tried to call Hal’s name, but it was too late as the man had already punched Hal square in the face. Hal started falling back, but Barry was behind him, catching him before he could fall. 

“That’s how you wanna play it? I’ll fuck you up, Jordan.”

Barry tried to hold Hal back again, but Hal didn’t even seem to notice him as he lunged forward again for attack. Fists were flying on both sides. The crowd drew back, some looking afraid, and others pulling out their phones to take pictures or video. No one else dared to interfere. 

Despite the guy being significantly taller and bigger than him, Hal was determined to fight. No matter how much the guy hit him or knocked him into a table or a wall, he kept getting back up quickly. Barry didn’t think he’d ever seen so much anger in his eyes before. 

It was all happening so fast. Barry had never been in a fight before, but he knew he had to step in. He just didn’t want to somehow cause more damage to Hal by doing so. But dammit, this had already gone on too long. 

Knowing well he might get hurt by doing so, he found an opening and placed himself in between both men, his arms outstretched. “Enough! This ends right now!” 

Neither man tried to shove him aside, though the stranger looked at him with disgust. 

One of the bartenders finally came out from behind the counter and approached the scene with his hands on his hips, looking irritated. “You punks fighting in my bar? All three of you can get the hell out!”

Barry pulled out a twenty dollar bill from his pocket and handed it the bartender. “For our tabs. Keep the change. We’re not coming back.” Following this, he grabbed Hal’s arm and led him out of the bar. Hal followed him surprisingly easily, having fallen silent. Barry had expected him to fight back, but that hadn’t been the case. 

When they got outside, Barry understood why. Hal’s angry expression had quickly fallen apart and he looked like someone had just ripped the heart out from his chest. His pained expression caused a tightness within Barry’s chest. He didn’t expect Hal to have another panic attack, but he got the sense that Hal was fixing to break down and needed a moment to gather himself. 

Barry pulled Hal into an empty alley across the street from the bar, hoping they’d be left alone long enough for Hal to get whatever he needed out of his system. Turned out, Barry’s instincts were right on. 

Hal became to crumble immediately. His knees gave way from under him and as he began to fall, he clawed for Barry’s jacket desperately, as if the blond would keep him afloat in an endless sea of despair. Barry caught Hal’s arms just in time to ease him slowly to the ground, where he stayed with him. By the time he could finally get a good look at Hal’s face in the dark, Hal was crying. 

“He wasn’t a shitty pilot,” he said, voice breaking. “He wasn’t a shitty pilot. It was a faulty system, he wasn’t a shitty pilot. He was the best goddamn pilot there was!” 

Barry frowned deeply, placing his hands on Hal’s shoulders. While part of his mind was still rattled by his dad being called a murderer again, he felt more for Hal, and had to fight the urge to pull him in his arms. “You’re right, Hal. Your dad was the best pilot.”

Hal’s mind was everywhere. Hearing anyone talk about his dad like that had been a shock to his system he wasn’t expecting. He’d been working so hard for the past few months, harder than he probably ever had in his life, and he thought he was okay. He was fixing things, and that’s what he had to do to feel okay again, wasn’t it? 

“I don’t understand. He told me I could be whatever I wanted to be, I could do anything I wanted, as long as I never gave up. That was all he asked. He just didn’t want me to give up, so I haven’t, and I don’t understand why it still hurts so goddamn bad.”

If he just fulfilled his dad’s wishes, if he worked hard and become the son his dad deserved to have, he wouldn’t have to feel so awful all the time. That’s all he had to do, wasn’t it?

“It’s not that simple,” Barry said, his voice soft. “It’s never that simple. You can’t ignore these feelings, Hal. You have to allow yourself to feel them.” 

Hal reached for the collar of Barry’s jacket, clinging to him again, while his head was bowed. “What the hell am I supposed to do with them, Bar? What am I supposed to do with them then?” 

“Hal, look at me.”

Hal did, despite his puffy face.

Barry continued, “The first thing you have to realize is that your dad loved you unconditionally. You were his _son_. He loved you and he was proud of you for who you were, no matter what. He told you to never give up because he wanted the best for you. But none of that changes how proud he was of you. Remember that. Don’t forget it. Once you accept that, and once you allow yourself to process all the pain and hurt, that’s when you start to heal. There’s no switch to flip. There’s no magic wand or quick fix. You’ve been working so hard in school and everything on the outside. You have to do the same for everything on the inside, too.”

Hal stared at him for a moment, processing his words, and then finally pulled the blond in for a hug. Barry was taken aback, but gladly wrapped his arms around him, resting his head on his shoulder. As much of a comfort as this was for Hal, it was for Barry, too. Even though they were in a dark alley in the middle of this strange city with their bodies shivering from the cold winter air, they were able to find solace in each other.

For a long moment, they were both silent as they held each other.

“Your shoulders are shaking,” Hal said quietly after a pause. “Barry….are you crying?”

Barry shook his head on Hal’s shoulder. “I’m okay, Hal.” 

The broken voice sounded suspicious. Hal pulled back to get a look at Barry’s face and, sure enough, it was almost as moist as his own. “Fuck, Barry.” 

Feeling as though he’d just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar, Barry covered his face for a moment, trying to wipe his eyes. “Look, it’s fine. I’m...used to this.” 

“Used to people calling your dad a murderer? Is that it?”

Barry took in a deep breath and slowly nodded. 

“Your dad is not a murderer, Barry. He was a husband and father. He still is.”

Barry, overcome with emotion, hugged him again. “Your dad is too, Hal.” 

They held each other tightly again, falling into a comfortable silence once more, the full moon in the sky as their only witness.

* * *

Maybe now that Hal was becoming aware of his own issues, he could really begin healing. All things considered, he was actually doing pretty well. However, Barry worried that if Hal continued to ignore his emotional needs, then it could lead him down a dangerous path. Hopefully he wouldn’t have to worry about that anymore, because he really felt like he’d gotten through to Hal that night in the alley. 

Barry really didn’t want to equate Hal’s experience to his own, particularly because of the stark differences. The largest of these being that Barry was a child when he lost his mom, and that his mom was a murder victim instead of the victim of an accident. But even though the grieving process is different for everyone, there’s still many similarities. Barry knew what it was like to have your thoughts all consumed about that one event that changed the course of your life forever. Even if you tried not to think about the “what if” questions, they still haunted you. How much different would my life be if that person were still here? Those were the types of questions that could lead to dangerous decisions.

But, that night in the alley after the bar fight, Hal really seemed to understand what Barry was trying to say. Maybe now he’d start working through those extremely difficult emotions. 

Or maybe not. 

The next few weeks following the bar fight, everything seemed fine. Hal seemed to be in a relatively good mood and he was keeping up with his studies. He didn’t appear to be set back by what had happened. Everything seemed fine. Good, even.

But then one particular Thursday night happened.

It wasn’t strange for Hal to be out late at night. He’d been doing it for months, long before the death of his father. Most times, it was because he’d been drinking, but Barry also wondered if he hadn’t hooked up with a girl a couple of times either. So it wasn’t unusual for him to be late, but he always came home some time during the night. That much Barry could count on. 

Barry was working on some homework at his desk in his room, watching the clock every now and then. This wasn’t unusual either, but if Hal knew that this was a habit for him, and that he often even waited to hear him come through the door, then he’d probably get angry with him. 

Midnight? Perfectly normal. It was a Thursday night, but Hal didn’t have classes on Fridays so it was pretty much the start of his weekend. 

One in the morning? Also pretty normal. Sometimes Hal was home by this time, but sometimes not.

Two? Bars were closing, so it was likely he’d be venturing home soon. 

Three? Okay, this was a bit weird. There had been a couple of times where Hal had stayed out this late, but it was rare. Hal would call him if something was wrong, right?

Barry’s eyes were heavy and he was so tired he could no longer work to keep himself awake, but how could he sleep unless he was sure Hal was okay? He grabbed his phone and dialed Hal’s number.

Each ring was longer than the last. It rang over and over with no answer, until it went to voicemail. Damn. “Hal, it’s Barry. Just checking to see if you needed a ride or anything. Call me back.”

Several minutes passed. What now? Maybe Hal had met up with a friend of theirs or something. He decided to make a few phone calls at the risk of pissing a few people off, because if something was wrong and he hadn’t at least tried, then he’d never forgive himself. 

First call. “Hey, Clark, sorry to bother you. Have you seen Hal tonight?”

“Can’t say I have, sorry.”

Second call. “Diana, it’s Barry. Sorry to bother you so late. Have you seen Hal? He’s not answering his phone.”

“Sorry, Barry, haven’t seen him in days. Did he get himself in trouble?”

Third call. “Hey, Oliver, it’s Barry. I haven’t been able to get a hold of Hal. He hasn’t contacted you at all, has he?” 

“Not tonight, no. I’d help you out, but not much I can do from across the country. Keep me posted though, will you?”

Call after call after call. No luck. He tried Hal’s number again and still nothing. Desperate, he checked Hal’s various social media accounts to see if there’d been any activity, even though he didn’t tend to use them too much anyway. Nothing there either. It was as if he’d vanished into thin air.

Maybe Hal had hooked up with a girl or something. Maybe it was nothing, but that didn’t keep Barry from worrying and it also didn’t keep him from moving into the living room so he could be closer to the door and listen for Hal. What he really wanted to do was go out and look for him, but he had no idea where Hal had gone off to and as exhausted as he was, it seemed especially risky. 

If Hal wasn’t back by morning, he’d have to take action. 

It was almost four in the morning. He laid on the living room couch and turned on the TV to some loud movie in hopes that it would keep him awake, but he was out in minutes.

* * *

The door burst open and Barry jolted awake. He had no idea what time it was, but it was morning because the living room was bathed in sunlight. Hal walked in, looking pissed off, and slammed the door shut behind him. He spotted Barry on the couch and looked at him suspiciously. 

“Were you sleeping on the couch?”

Barry sat up, reaching for the remote and turning the TV off. “Me? Where have you been all night?”

Hal averted his gaze. “Don’t worry about it. I’m fine. It’s over.” 

The brunt started walking off in the direction of his bedroom when Barry spotted something in his hand.

“Hal...are those papers in your hand from the police station?”

Hal froze for a second, but continued on his path. “I said don’t worry about it.”

Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. Barry got up and zipped over to him, grabbing his arm. “You can’t just walk off without telling me what happened. Something happened last night, didn’t it? What happened, Hal? Did you get hurt?”

Hal stopped and jerked his arm out of Barry’s grasp, glaring at him. “What are you, my keeper? For fuck’s sake, Barry, I have a life. A life outside of _you_.” 

Undeterred by the harshness in his tone, Barry glared right back and snatched the papers out of his hands and looked at them. He didn’t know what he’d been expecting to find, but it sure as hell wasn’t what he found.

The first paper was an arrest form. Barry’s eyes scanned it. Last night around 1:30, Hal had been arrested for being drunk in public. They kept him overnight, and released him this morning. The second paper was detailing a massive fine he’d have to pay for the charge, and the rest were more legal information pertaining to the first two.

Hal had been arrested last night. That’s why he didn’t come home. Barry could hardly believe what he was reading. 

As Barry stood in shock, Hal snatched the papers right back from him, still glaring at him. “I see now why you wanna be a cop. You can’t keep your nose out of anyone’s business.”

“Hal, the drinking has to stop. This has gotten out of hand. You’re gonna get yourself hurt, or worse.”

Unfortunately, this only seemed to make Hal angrier. “Don’t talk to me like that, Barry. I know you wanna be some hero or whatever and clean up the streets and all that other cliche, childish crap. That’s not what this is. It was just a stupid mistake. Do you think I’m an alcoholic, Barry? Do you see me as one of those ‘bad guys’ you wanna get off the streets? Is that what you think of me?”

Barry’s eyes didn’t waver despite how deeply Hal’s words continued to cut in him. “No, Hal. I just don’t want to see you get hurt. You’re my friend.”

Hal stared at him for a moment before turning away. “As long as you’re breathing down my neck, maybe you’re not.”

Hal’s bedroom door shut behind him and the shudder resonated within a frozen Barry. 

It was Hal who had previously said they were best friends. Hal wouldn’t really end their friendship over something like this, would he? 

Feeling hurt and dejected, Barry headed into his own bedroom in hopes of getting more sleep. Maybe they both just needed to cool off. He hoped.


	5. The Accident

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry is working late in the chemistry lab with Bruce during a storm. Later, Hal gets a phone call with terrible news.

Barry was working late in the chemistry lab. Lately, he’d been spending a lot more time here than he needed to. It had been some days since Hal’s overnight jail stay and their subsequent fight but there was still some tension between them. Hal hadn’t tried to resolve things, but neither had Barry. After all, Hal had said he wanted Barry to stop “breathing down my neck,” so Barry was apprehensive to initiate a conversation about the subject, as badly as he wanted to.

So he often decided to stay late in the chemistry lab to work on homework, lab reports, and upcoming projects. Most days, he would be the last one left in the lab, working well into the evening.

Tonight was different. Tonight, Bruce Wayne was with him because the two of them got paired together for an assignment in their chemistry class. Barry didn’t mind working with others most of the time, but Bruce was...strange. More than that, he was making this assignment very frustrating, and Barry was already stressed as it was lately because of Hal.

There was also a bad storm tonight. Barry didn’t think much of it, only that if it didn’t stop, then going home was going to be a pain because he’d forgotten an umbrella. Nonetheless, as he and Bruce worked in the lab, they had the sounds of rain and thunder in the background.

Bruce looked at their current formula thoughtfully. “Hmm, I think we need iodine…”

“No, not iodine. Potassium iodide.” Barry tried not to put edge in his voice, but he was tired and stressed.

Bruce frowned. “Yeah, you’re right.”

Okay, he’d had enough. He looked over at Bruce through his safety goggles. “You know, there’s something I don’t understand. Your test scores are near perfect and you do all the assignments, but when the professor calls on you in class or when you’re working with someone— like me, for instance— you come up with strange errors no one who’s been studying this stuff would make.”

Bruce stared at him. “What are you trying to say?”

“I’m saying I think you’re a lot smarter than you let on. I don’t know what the act is about, but if we’re gonna get through this assignment, I’d really appreciate it if you work with me.”

Barry was expecting, even hoping, Bruce to argue back with him. If he argued with him, it meant that Barry was right. And they could get this damn assignment done.

Instead, Bruce chuckled. “I’m flattered you think so highly of me. Some of this stuff is just very hard for me. I’m sorry I’m making this so difficult.” He paused. “What was it we needed again?”

Barry took off his safety goggles, pinching the bridge of his nose. “It’s okay, I’ll get it. Just keep an eye on that beaker.” 

He wandered to the other side of the lab to a chemicals cabinet that sat next to a window. For a moment, he glanced outside. The storm was looking pretty bad. Hopefully Hal was home. Shaking off the thought, he opened up the cabinet and reached into it.

That was when the lightning hit. It came right through the window, striking the chemicals cabinet. The cabinet broke down, all the glasses inside shattering and dousing Barry in electrified chemicals. Bruce watched from the other side of the room, at a safe enough distance that none of the chemicals would splash on him or reach him. He watched as Barry collapsed, falling unconscious, a few sparks continuing to come off of his body. 

Bruce’s previously casual, carefree expression instantly darkened in concern. He pulled out his phone and dialed 911. 

While he was on the phone with them, he slowly approached Barry’s body. Barry was out cold, covered in pretty much every chemical the chemistry department had stored. That alone was cause enough for concern, because the right combinations could have dangerous effects on Barry’s body, however...sparks kept flying off him, and that most definitely wasn’t normal. 

Bruce got off the phone with 911, waiting for them to arrive. He couldn’t get too close to check Barry’s vitals, which bothered him. Just then, the secret, hidden communicator in his ear beeped.

“Master Bruce, I detected an electrical anomaly at your location, is everything alright?”

“I’m fine, Alfred. It wasn’t me. A student got hit. I’ve already called an ambulance.”

“Oh, my. A friend of yours, sir?”

Bruce frowned, continuing to watch the sparks come off Barry. “Maybe in another life.”

* * *

Hal was in his bedroom doing pushups. On his desk nearby, he had a rock music playlist going to motivate him to keep pushing. He’d actually been trying to work out more lately. Nothing too crazy, but he’d like to stay in shape. For the past couple of hours, he’d been doing a variety of workouts. It was probably time for a break, but he didn’t want to quit until he really felt that burn. 

His phone rang from his desk, which made him realize how late it was. Barry was usually home long before now, but he hadn’t come home yet. It was a bit weird. Maybe he’d decided to go out with Clark or someone? Barry was normally easy to keep track of, but ever since the night Hal had gotten arrested, things between them had been strained. Barry had said that he hadn’t told anyone about Hal’s jail stay and, if they’d asked, he’d just told them that Hal had a long night out. Even though he was upset with Barry, he at least trusted him to tell the truth. 

He got up from the floor, paused his music, and answered his phone. He didn’t recognize the number, which meant this was probably gonna be a waste of his time, but something in him made him answer it anyway. 

“Hello?”

“Is this Hal Jordan?”

“Speaking. Who’s this?”

“My name is Bruce Wayne. I’m calling you to talk about your friend Barry.”

What the hell? Hal was all sorts of confused. Was this guy claiming to be _the_ Bruce Wayne? And what the hell did he want with Barry? Hal scoffed. “Listen, I don’t know who you think you are, but if you do anything to Barry, we’re gonna have a conversation.”

The voice on the other end didn’t appear to be fazed. “Barry’s in the hospital. I was in the chemistry lab with him tonight when he was struck by lightning. The lightning hit a chemicals cabinet. Everything spilled on him. They just brought him to the hospital a few minutes ago.”

Hal froze, feeling his chest tighten. “I swear to god, if this is some sick joke, I will find you.”

“He’s in a coma. I called you because he mentioned you’re his roommate. Does he have any family?”

A coma?! This wasn’t happening. There was absolutely no way this was happening. This wasn’t Bruce Wayne. Maybe it was that asshole from the bar pulling a really sick joke. 

“His family’s not available,” Hal said. That was all this person needed to know, if he was even Bruce Wayne. “Give me the hospital information.”

Bruce gave him the location and room information.

“Just one more thing.” Hal said. “Why are you the one calling me, _‘Bruce Wayne’_? Why not the hospital or the cops?”

“They were only willing to call family. I have to go.” Bruce said. Then he hung up.

Hal stared at his phone for several seconds after the call ended. He really, really wanted this to be a joke. As mad as that would make him, it was worlds better than Barry being in a coma, and potentially losing him. 

The last real conversation the pair had was the morning after Hal’s arrest. Hal had told him off for being nosy, but Barry...was just trying to stop him from getting hurt. Hal’s response to that was telling him that maybe they weren’t friends anymore. They’d hardy spoken since, and that was days ago. 

If those were the last words he’d ever be able to say to Barry...how could he live with himself? 

Snapping out of his trance, he quickly grabbed his things before darting out the door.

* * *

“Alfred, I’m sending you some data about Barry Allen for further analysis.”

Bruce was alone in Barry’s hospital room, tapping at his phone. He had to be careful because any doctor or nurse could be back at any minute, not to mention Hal was probably on his way as well. In the meantime, he’d placed some scanners on Barry’s EKG and other equipment, as well as taking a small blood sample he intended to analyze later. 

“Is there a reason this case particularly concerns you, sir?” Alfred asked over his communicator.

“Something’s not right. His body’s still giving off occasional sparks of static electricity. His heart’s beating so fast the EKG won’t read it. I thought his heart had stopped until I realized the rest of his vitals were normal. I’ve set up the EKG to give off normal readings until I analyze further. 

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to deceive the doctors like that?”

“It is for now, until I figure out what’s going on or until his heart resumes a normal rate.”

“An interesting case indeed, Master Bruce. You don’t think he was attacked, do you?”

“No, but…” Bruce paused, frowning as he stared at the unconscious blond. “I think he might be becoming a meta.” 

“Oh, my.”

“I’m bringing a blood sample when I get home.” He heard footsteps outside the door. “Talk later.” 

The door opened and Hal walked in. Even though they’d never met before, Hal recognized Bruce’s face immediately from what little he actually paid attention to the local news and magazines. He wasn’t happy to see Bruce and made no effort to hide the fact.

“Well I’ll be damned,” he said to Bruce, an edge in his voice. “Barry never mentioned having a class with you.”

“He’s the only one that doesn’t treat me like a celebrity,” Bruce said with a shrug.

“You _are_ a celebrity.”

Bruce approached him, offering a hand. “I apologize that we had to meet like this, but I only want to help Barry. You’re Hal Jordan, right?”

Hal didn’t shake his hand. Something about Bruce just seemed so fake and it was rubbing him the wrong way. “What happened in that lab? Why is he in a coma? Actually, on second thought, let me grab a doctor. I don’t know if I trust you.”

Bruce lowered his hand, but maintained a friendly expression. “He was helping me on an assignment. He walked over to a chemicals cabinet and lightning struck, just as I told you over the phone. He was electrocuted and doused in several types of chemicals. I called 911.”

“Why are you here now? You’re not his friend.” He paused. “Are you?” 

“Wayne Enterprises funds many of Wayne University’s departments and projects, especially in the sciences. Generations ago, my family built this school. I take pride in it, including its students. Barry is a particularly sharp student.”

It sounded like such a canned response that Hal thought he might fall asleep while he was talking. “You have more money than most of us will ever see in our lifetimes. Why take classes here?”

Bruce forced a smile and patted Hal on the shoulder. “I don’t think you came here to ask me all these questions. I’ll be on my way. I’m wishing the best for Barry. I’ll have my people keep an eye on him.”

His people, huh? So he was one of ‘those’ rich guys. The kind that pissed Hal off. Bruce moved past him and out of the door, seemingly unbothered by the glare Hal was shooting after him. Once he was gone, Hal turned his attention to Barry. 

Seeing the blond laying there like that, unconscious and hooked up to a ton of different machines made the anger in his face melt away instantly. It was true. Barry really was in a coma. It wasn’t some sick joke or prank from Bruce, or the guy at the bar, or whoever else. It was true. Barry was really in a coma, and he’d really been the victim of some really freak accident in the chemistry lab. 

He really might be losing Barry. 

His knees felt weak, so he flopped on a nearby chair. He found he was unable to take his eyes off Barry, as if the blond would suddenly flatline if he looked away for even a minute. Smart, passionate, caring Barry was in a coma, and his last memories of Hal were of him being a jerk. 

It reminded him of the last conversation he’d had with his dad, where his dad pretty much told him to get his shit together in the nicest way possible. Barry’s last conversation with Hal was a similar message, and now he might lose him, too. The two most important people in his life, the ones who did the most to help him, were the people he’d taken for granted and was losing. He really was a colossal piece of shit. All Barry wanted was for him to stop drinking and take care of himself, and Hal was ready to throw their friendship away. Why? Because pushing Barry away was easier than knowing he’d disappointed his best friend. That was it. That was the whole reason why Hal had fought with him, because he knew he’d disappointed Barry and he couldn’t take it. 

“Barry…,” he whispered in a strained voice. “I know you were only trying to save me, but you can’t. No one can do this but me. I know I made you feel bad. I’m...I’m sorry, Barry.” He rubbed his eyes. He absolutely did not need to cry right now. “You’ve always been such a good friend. Anyone would be lucky to have a friend like you. I swear to god, if you pull out of this, I’ll never touch a single can of beer again. Just wake up, Barry. Wake up. You need to wake up, Barry…” 

His phone rang in his pocket, and he was tempted to ignore it, but sitting here wallowing wasn’t going to get Barry to wake up any faster. So he answered it, trying to make his voice sound as even as possible. “Yeah?”

“Hal, it’s Clark. I just saw on the news that Barry was in an accident in the chemistry lab. Is he okay?”

Hal rubbed his face, trying to compose himself. “No. He’s in a coma.”

“Oh no....I’m sorry to hear that. What happened?”

“A lightning strike hit a bunch of chemicals in the lab and it was all dumped on him. There’s no telling what’s gonna happen now. Bruce Wayne was in the lab with him and called 911.”

“Is that right? Barry mentioned having a class with him awhile back. Thank goodness someone was there at the time.”

Hal choked out a pained laugh. How did Clark know and he did not? Sure, he didn’t have to know every detail about Barry’s life, but he couldn’t help but wonder what else he was missing about Barry because he’d chosen to fuck up their friendship. “You knew he was in his class? I sure as hell didn’t. He was here when I got here, even. Seemed like a real jerk.”

“Hal...he’ll pull through. This is Barry. He can be just as stubborn as you when he wants to be.”

Okay, that was a little bit funny. It was true, but it was also funny. “He has to, because I owe him an apology.”

Aside from Barry, Clark was one of the few people that Hal trusted. They weren’t extremely close, but they’d been friends long enough that Hal was comfortable around him. Sure, Clark could be kind of an airhead at times, but he had a good heart. For Hal, that was maybe the most important quality in a person. 

“An apology?” Clark asked. “What do you mean?”

“We got into a fight,” Hal said, sighing heavily. “I told him maybe we shouldn’t be friends anymore. It was dumb and I didn’t mean it. It hurt his feelings and I never apologized. And now...I might lose my chance.”

“Hey now. Barry values his friendships more than that. He’s not the type to cut someone off over one little fight. I’m sure he knows you care about him.” 

“I just...I just lost my dad, Clark. I can’t lose my best friend too.” 

“You won’t. Believe in him. That’s what he needs from you right now.”

Hal nodded even though Clark couldn’t see it on the other end of the phone. “Yeah. I will.”

“If you need anything or if something comes up, call me. I’ll be down to visit him tomorrow. Don’t stay there too much, Hal. Barry would want you to take care of yourself.”

“Yeah, well. No promises.”

* * *

For days, there was no update or change in Barry’s condition. His EKG continued to display the same heart rate (oddly…) and his breathing was fine, so that was much was good news, but he wouldn’t wake up. The doctors said that the longer he stayed in the coma, the worse it would be for him when he eventually woke up, and that was if he woke up at all. There were all sorts of mental consequences Barry could potentially face. Or he may face little to no consequences at all. There was just no telling what would happen, and all they could do was wait. And Hal hated waiting.

Day after day he visited Barry at the hospital. Day after day he’d have to see him lying there, completely still, being fed through goddamn tubes. It wasn’t how it was supposed to be. Barry was supposed to be doing boring nerd stuff that Hal didn’t understand; he was supposed to be padding his transcript with stellar grades so he could one day become a forensic scientist and get his dad out of prison. He was supposed to be asking Hal to turn his music down so he could study. He was supposed to be heading out to do some grocery shopping, and asking Hal if he wanted anything from the store while he was out. He was supposed to be awake and alive. 

Maybe if Hal hadn’t pushed him away, he wouldn’t have been in the chemistry lab. No, no, that wasn’t right. He couldn’t blame himself for this. Plus, Barry was working with Bruce anyway. So he would have been in the lab regardless. 

He hadn’t slept decently since Barry’s accident, which was evident in the persistent dark circles under his eyes. He hadn’t been eating much, either. Just enough to shut his stomach up whenever it started growling. Above all else, he hadn’t touched any alcohol. None.

It was still in the apartment, though. Most of a case of beer along with a few bottles of liquor. Previously, he’d been keeping a steady stock of it. This particular stock had been sitting here since his arrest. After his fight with Barry, he’d had a couple of beers, but nothing since the accident. Not a drop.

It was time to get rid of it. 

He woke up one afternoon with the decision that this should end. Barry was right. If he didn’t put a stop to it, either he or someone else would get hurt. Or worse. His life was messed up enough already without him adding fuel to the fire. And what did the alcohol really do for him? It let him forget for awhile, or at least pretend his problems didn’t matter. The trouble with that was in the mornings, the problems were still there. 

He hadn’t even fully dressed yet and was still only wearing the shorts and tank top he’d slept in when he left his room and went to the fridge. His eyes fell on the case of beer, glaring at it for a moment. Maybe if he was able to do this in moderation, it would be different. But at the moment, he couldn’t. So, there was only one way to go: cold turkey, and he most certainly had the willpower to do it. 

He pulled out the case from the fridge and tossed it in the trash. Next, he went to a cabinet and pulled out the three bottles of liquor and tossed them in the trash as well. There. It was over. 

Figuring he should get rid of the trash now as well, he pulled the bag out and tied it. Since he still wasn’t properly dressed, he threw on a jacket. Before he headed out the door, his phone rang. He answered it on his way out the door, carrying the trash bag.

“What is it?”

“Hey, Hal. It’s been awhile.” It was Carol. 

Hal frowned. He didn’t know if he was in the mood for this right now. “Yeah, it has. What’s up?”

“Well, as you probably know, the first court date with your family is tomorrow. My dad’s...not been taking this well.”

“I actually didn’t know. I’m sorry to hear that.” He made it to the dumpster and tossed the bag inside. There. The alcohol was gone now. That was the last of what he had, and it was over. No more beer runs. Bars were also off limits for awhile, at least until he could get his act together. Turning his back on the dumpster, he headed back for the apartment. 

“What do you mean? Did you forget?” Carol asked. 

“My family’s not speaking to me. They’ve cut me off, so I’m out of the loop on the lawsuit thing, except for the moments where Jim decides he wants to talk to me.” 

“I didn’t know…”

“They said I acted disrespectful at the funeral. Second and final strike was that a while back, I decided I wanna be a pilot, too. Just like dad. They won’t talk to me unless I change my mind.”

“You’ve never been one to change your mind easily.”

“Exactly.” Making it back to the apartment, he shut himself inside and took off his jacket. He plopped on the couch, running a hand through his hair. 

“You’ll make a great pilot, Hal. Your dad would be proud of you.”

He really wasn’t in the mood for this, but he did like Carol, and it had been months since they’ve talked. He appreciated the sentiment, even if it wasn’t the best time. “Yeah. Thanks.”

“I just...I wanted you to know that if my dad or I had any idea that something was going to go wrong, your dad would never have been up there. Since it happened, my dad hasn’t been himself. They were great friends, Hal, and he feels responsible.”

“I...I know, Carol. I can’t do anything about the lawsuit. Sorry.”

“I know you can’t. I just wanted you to know. I’m really worried about my dad. I’ve never seen him like this before.” 

If Carol was looking for comforting words from Hal about her dad, she wasn’t going to find them. Hal wasn’t in the right mental state, and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t blame him at all. He was aware that it wasn’t _really_ his fault, but he hadn’t gotten to the part of his healing process where he fully let go of all the blame. From his understanding, the autopilot system that had malfunctioned had performed outstandingly well in all prior tests done on it before any pilot was up in the air with it. The only time it had malfunctioned was when it took down Martin Jordan. So, Mr. Ferris wasn’t really responsible, but Hal still felt sideways about the whole thing anyway. 

“Accidents happen,” Hal said. 

“Yeah,” Carol said. Her voice was flat, and carried a sense of disappointment. “Yeah, Hal. I guess they do. How have you been?”

“My roommate is in a coma. I’ve been better.”

“I’m sorry. I had no idea. What happened?”

Was he really going to have to tell this story over and over again? At the moment, he wasn’t feeling like going through the whole thing for the billionth time after telling some friends recently, so instead he said simply, “Lightning strike.” 

“That’s sad. Best wishes for him. I should get going. Have stuff to do in the office.”

“Sure. Talk to you later.”

“Yeah. Later.” 

Hal hung up, setting his phone aside. It was strange. When he was younger, he totally had a crush on Carol. For about the past year or more, he found he didn’t think about her as much. It wasn’t just because of the distance, at least he didn’t think it was, because his first two years here in college he had still been crushing on her. He wasn’t sure why his feelings had changed, but they had, and he didn’t feel for her the way he used to. 

At the moment, all he could think about was Barry anyway. Barry in his goddamn coma, the possibility of never being able to talk to him again, Barry never being able to fulfill his dreams, Barry never living to see Hal finally become the man he knows he can be…

He didn’t know what to do with himself. He really wished he could tell Barry that he’d just gotten rid of all the alcohol and was finally quitting. 

If nothing else, he could tell him while he was in his coma, he guessed. He got up from the couch, intending to shower and get cleaned up before heading to the hospital to visit Barry yet again. 

He had a feeling he wouldn’t miss his reliance on the alcohol.


	6. Awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry's life is about to change forever and, according to Hal, it's awesome.

Barry woke up in his hospital bed. He was feeling a bit dazed for a moment, but the feeling quickly subsided. Where was he? What time was it? What _day_ was it? He heard the heart monitor beeping steadily and it made him realize how many machines he was hooked up to. What in the world...how long had he been out? 

He tried to think of the last thing he remembered. The chemistry lab with Bruce, trying to get Bruce to admit that he was a lot smarter than he was letting on. Didn’t work. He went to retrieve a chemical for the experiment they were working on. There was a flash and shattering glass, then nothing. 

He looked around the room. If he had to guess, he was at Gotham General Hospital. A TV was playing, reporting news about Gotham, so at least that made sense. 

“Superman was spotted in Gotham last night. It marks the first recorded appearance of the hero in Gotham, and the first appearance from him anywhere in months. He was last spotted in Metropolis last October. It’s unclear why the hero decided to pay a visit to Gotham, but some wonder if it has anything to do with the so-called ‘Batman’ people claim lives in the city. Superman was joined by Wonder Woman, who....”

Strange news. He’d have to think more about it later.

His head rolled to the side, and what he spotted gave him a pause. Hal was on a chair near his bedside, fast asleep. The brunet looked tired and disheveled. He was wearing an old shirt, torn up jeans, and...was that his father’s jacket? He knew Hal still had it, but he usually didn’t wear it. Hal’s hair was also messy, and he was developing some facial hair. His cheek rested on his fist, and it looked like he’d been that way for awhile. 

Hal...was here. He’d been worried about Barry. Seeing him like that was a bit overwhelming, given that his last memories of Hal were...full of tension. 

“Hal…,” Barry said softly. A part of him wanted to reach out to him. For what, he didn’t know. Maybe he just wanted to make sure that the Hal sitting there was real. 

At the mention of his name, the brunet jolted awake. He looked startled at first, and when he spotted Barry, his eyes widened. “Barry. Barry! You’re awake!” He shot up out of his seat and rushed closer to Barry’s bed side. He looked down at the blond with so much relief in his eyes, so much emotion. 

“How long was I out?” Barry asked. 

“Today marks three weeks,” Hal said. “You fell in a coma after the accident at the lab.”

Barry’s eyes widened. “Three weeks? Are you kidding me?”

“Bruce said the lightning hit the chemicals, and then the chemicals spilled all over you. Knocked you right out. How are you feeling?”

Much to Hal’s horror, Barry sat up. Hal looked at him, confused and concerned, but Barry looked normal as ever. “I feel...fine, actually. You talked to Bruce?”

“Whoa, be careful,” Hal said. “How can you feel ‘fine’? You just woke up from a coma. And yes, I talked to Bruce. He called 911 after it happened, then called me. I think I should grab the doctor and tell her you’re awake…”

Barry looked down at his hands in thought, as though he were confused. “Well, I’ll have to thank him. I can’t believe I was out for three weeks. I’ve missed so much work.”

Hal looked at him incredulously. “Work? Barry, you almost _died_. I— we almost lost you. Like, permanently. And you’re worried about work?”

Barry gave him a concerned look. Yes, he was aware of the fact that he almost died. Thank you. “Hal, I really feel fine. I know it’s weird, but I actually...feel better than ever. Honest.” 

Hal couldn’t believe it. For weeks he’d been pacing back and forth in the apartment or pacing around in this very room, wondering what he was going to do if Barry didn’t wake up. Wondering what he was going to do when he couldn’t apologize to Barry for being a piece of shit. Wondering what he was going to do without his best friend. Now, Barry was not only awake, he was barely acting like anything had happened. That was just like Barry though, wasn’t it? Even if he was in pain, he probably wouldn’t be acting like it. Still, he did look as though he felt perfectly fine, so Hal didn’t get the sense that Barry was exaggerating. It was really weird, and kind of horrifying, but he was awake. That was the important part. 

“Bar...I owe you an apology.”

Barry tilted his head, looking confused. “For what, Hal? And you can sit down. I’m fine. I’ll talk to the doctors in a minute.”

Hal sat down, but scooted his chair closer to Barry. “Come on, Bar, don’t act like you don’t know. I was an asshole to you before. The way I yelled at you...you didn’t deserve that. I’m sorry.”

That’s what this was about? Barry’s expression softened. “Don’t tell me you’ve been beating yourself up about that for the past three weeks. I know what we both said, but we’re friends, right? I never stopped believing in you, Hal. I was just trying to help you. I’m sorry if I pushed too much.”

Hal stared at him partly in disbelief, and partly in relief. “You know, it almost would have been easier if you just accepted the apology and told me I was in fact being an asshole.”

That made Barry laugh. “Okay, you were being an asshole. There. Better?”

“Yes, much. Thank you. Listen, Bar. You were right. About the alcohol, I mean. I’ve given it up. Haven’t had a drink since you went out. I’m done. Cold turkey.”

Barry blinked. “Cold turkey? Really?”

“Cold turkey.”

Barry smiled. “Hal, that’s fantastic. I’m really glad to hear that.”

Just then, a doctor walked in, surprised and delighted to see Barry awake. When Barry once again insisted he was fine, the doctor looked skeptical. Hal stood aside, watching as she took several of Barry’s vitals. Everything was coming up just fine. However, she said she still wanted to run some tests. Barry really, really wanted to go home, but agreed to let the tests be run. Better safe than sorry, he guessed.

* * *

Hal didn’t like staying in the waiting room. He really just wanted to bring Barry home already, but...he was awake. Barry was awake and everything was going to be okay. Things could finally start to feel normal again. Or at least, as normal as they could get. 

Being in the apartment without Barry was not an experience he wanted to repeat. Frankly, it sucked. It was too quiet and he missed being able to randomly burst in his room with whatever was on his mind. He’d missed watching TV with him or having dinner with him. They didn’t even have to be spending time together. He even missed small moments like waking up in the middle of the night and seeing the light coming from under Barry’s bedroom door because he was up late working. Or coming home and seeing him reading on the couch. Without Barry, the apartment was just lonely and sad. Still alcohol-free, but sad. 

While he waited, he decided to text Clark the news. 

_“Barry’s awake! Says he feels fine. Hopes to be home soon.”_

Clark’s reply was almost instant. _“Thank goodness! Tell him I said hello.”_

He texted Diana, who he’d informed about the coma when he ran into her on campus days ago. _“Barry’s awake and says he feels okay. Doctors doing tests. Everything looks good.”_

Diana texted back several minutes later. _“I’m so happy to hear that. Thanks for letting me know.”_

He texted Oliver, who he’d also called while Barry was out. _“Barry’s awake and doing fine. So help me if he gives me a scare like that again.”_

Oliver texted back a couple of minutes later. _“Glad to hear it. You should tell him you said that.”_

There were other people he should probably contact as well, but he’d probably save that for later. Should he let Bruce know? He did still have Bruce’s number saved in his phone. 

….Nah. He’d figure it out eventually. 

After what felt like way too long, Barry finally emerged. Hal jumped up from his seat to meet him, giving him a confused look at what he was wearing. He had a pair of shorts that didn’t fit or look right on him and a baggy t-shirt. 

Barry looked down at himself then back up at Hal. “My clothes got ruined in the accident, so they gave me these. But on the plus side, my keys, phone, and wallet are intact because they weren’t on my person at the time. Bruce must have turned them in.”

Hal shook his head and threw his arm around Barry’s shoulders. “I’m just glad you’re up and walking. They’re really sending you home so soon?”

Barry gave Hal a forced smile. “I really need to get out of here, Hal. They want me to stay, but all my tests came out great and I feel fine, so I’m going.”

“Barry…,” Hal began, his voice stern with concern.

“Look, I’ll go to the follow up appointments. I’m fine.”

Hal sighed. They’d discuss this later. “Alright. Ready to head home?”

“You have no idea how much.”

Hal chuckled. “Come on. I brought my car. I’ll take you home.”

“That’s music to my ears,” Barry said with a smile.

* * *

Hal’s car didn’t get used much because, most of the time, he didn’t need it. Campus was within walking distance, and driving to bars was never a good idea since he planned to drink at said bars. It was alright, he guessed. Nothing special, and kind of old. His dad had given it to him when he started college. It ran, that was the important thing. 

Still, on the way back to the apartment, he wasn’t expecting the car to start shaking as he drove it. That hadn’t happened before and everything had been fine the last time he’d been in it. It was old, but the engine was in decent shape as far as he knew.

“You feel that?” Hal asked. 

Barry glanced at him from the passenger’s seat, confused. “Feel what?”

“The car, it’s vibrating.”

“I don’t feel anything….”

Hal frowned. “It should be fine until we get home. I’ll look at the engine later.” 

They got home safe and sound without any issues, but Hal wasn’t satisfied. He planned to take a look at the engine once he helped Barry get settled back in the apartment. He was still dealing with having to pay the massive fine from his arrest, so the last thing he needed was some car problems. Oh, and he still owed Barry money for the airplane ticket after the funeral. Sigh….

Even though it was winter, it was an unseasonably warm day. Nearby where Hal parked his car was an open field where some kids were playing baseball. Hal wasn’t paying much attention as he and Barry climbed out of the car. 

“You know, Bar, I’m starting to think I’m gonna need a job. Why does everything have to be so damn expensive?”

It happened within a second. A baseball from the nearby field was hit in their direction, heading straight for Hal’s head. In a flash, Barry zipped from the other side of the car to beside Hal, catching the ball in his hand. 

Hal blinked, turning to look at Barry and the baseball with a confused look. “What...what just happened?”

Barry looked just as baffled. “This ball was heading right for you, so I ran over and caught it. It was moving pretty slow, so I could catch it.”

“Barry. You realize that doesn’t make any damn sense, right?”

The blond’s brows furrowed. “You’re right. It doesn’t.” 

What exactly was going on? Hal’s mind raced for a logical explanation, but he came up with nothing. There was just no way Barry would be able to run around the car to where Hal was and catch the ball in time. It just wasn’t possible, unless he was Superman or whatever, and he wasn’t, because Superman had been active for the past couple of years at least. And Hal was sure he would know if his friend was Superman. 

A couple of kids from the field came running over to them. 

“Excuse me, did our ball come this way?” one of them asked. 

Barry handed him the ball. “Here you are. Try being more careful, okay? You almost hit my friend.”

The boy and his friends nodded and thanked them. Without wasting more time, they left to get back to their little game. Hal, meanwhile, was just thankful that they didn’t seem to see the weirdness that just happened. 

Following that, Hal and Barry made their way into the apartment. Barry just looked relieved to be home and, even if for a minute, plopped down on a chair and let himself sink into it with a relieved sigh. 

“This apartment isn’t much, but it’s home, you know?”

Hal was staring at him.

“What?” Barry asked.

“Are you sure you’re feeling fine?”

Barry frowned. “Yes, Hal, I’m fine. What are you so worried about? The tests all came out perfect and I feel okay.”

“What just happened outside?”

“I...don’t know. I guess I just saw the ball coming in time.”

Hal didn’t look satisfied with that answer. He looked around the room in thought and spotted a stress ball. It was Barry’s, though he didn’t use it much, so now it was just laying around on a console table for the past few months or so. He picked it up and tossed it between his hands for a moment.

Barry gave him a confused look. “What are you doing?”

Hal threw the ball straight at him. The ball hit the side of Barry’s face and the blond flinched from the contact.

“Hal, what the hell?!”

Okay. That didn’t go as planned, but Hal wasn’t about to give up. He had a thought about this, and he was sure he was right. One more test. Or maybe a few more, but he’d rather not keep throwing things in the apartment if he was wrong, seeing as Barry just got out of a coma. This time, Hal pulled his own phone out of his pocket, shooting Barry a grin.

“Don’t do it,” Barry said. 

Without answering, Hal drew his arm back and threw his phone. This time not towards Barry, but towards the TV. The phone was barely out of his hands and his body was still in a throwing position when static electricity started flying in the room. Faster than the blink of Hal’s eye, Barry had vanished from his seat and was in the middle of the living room, in front of the TV, holding Hal’s phone. 

Barry glared at him. “What’s wrong with you?”

Hal’s body was still in a throwing position because of how fast Barry had moved. He blinked and straightened himself. When he realized what just happened, he was grinning again. “Barry, what did you see when you caught the phone?”

The blond looked puzzled. “Uh, it was moving through the air and I caught it?”

“How fast was the phone moving?”

Barry didn’t say anything.

“Barry. How fast was the phone moving in your view?”

Barry looked down at the phone in his hand, swallowing hard. “Oh, no…”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Barry, I think that accident did something to you. Something super awesome, by the way.” 

Awesome? Was that really what Hal thought about this? Barry didn’t know how to process what was going on. Was Hal right? Had the accident really changed him? He’d been in a coma the past few weeks and before leaving the hospital, the doctors told him they’d been confused as to why all the tests came out fine. They actually wanted to keep him in the hospital longer but he really wanted to just go home, so they scheduled a follow-up appointment instead. If that was part of this, how? Truthfully, Barry wasn’t sure what to make of all this. Maybe this was all just in his head. But what was he supposed to do now? Just how far did this new...power or whatever it was go? 

“This will require a lot of tests. I can’t make any conclusions about this until I’ve done some research.”

Hal laughed. “Look at you, not even graduated and you sound like a scientist already. I don’t know what kind of tests you have in mind, but you’re gonna need some help. My help.”

He would need help, but it sort of bothered him that Hal didn’t seem to be taking this seriously. In any event, Hal was still the best person to ask because, well, who else could he tell? If he started talking to people, then he’d end up at Arkham Asylum. No thanks. 

“Yeah, just...do me a favor and keep this between us.”

“Of course, Bar. You know me better than that.”

He did. If nothing else, he trusted Hal to keep his secrets, just as he always had. Still, that didn’t change the fact that all of this was just an incredible amount of stuff to process. Seriously, he was a _scientist_. He thought through all of his problems with logic and reason. What kind of logic was there to be able to move that fast? How could he ever reason with something like that? 

“I think I’m gonna take a shower and get cleaned up,” he said, moving past Hal. It’s what he’d been meaning to do from the very moment he woke up anyway.

“Sure, of course. I’ll order pizza for us. Sound good?”

Barry looked back over his shoulder and smiled a little at him. “I’d like that.”

* * *

Barry did want Hal’s help, and he knew he needed it. Honest. But the truth was, Hal already had the world on his shoulders. He was still trying to keep his grades up while dealing with his grief over his father and the last thing Barry wanted was to be another burden. 

He didn’t want to hide anything from Hal. If anything, he enjoyed sharing his life with Hal. Since they were such close friends living under the same roof, they had almost no secrets from each other. Even if Hal hadn’t found out about Barry’s new...condition by accident right away, it would have happened sooner or later. Plus, he trusted him. So he didn’t have a problem with Hal knowing about it. 

But he had to do some figuring out on his own, without Hal. So he waited until late at night when Hal was asleep and stepped out of the apartment. 

It was unlikely that he’d run into any familiar faces this late at night, but he couldn’t risk it. So he wore a red sweater, a red beanie, and non-prescription glasses. Not exactly a disguise, but it was also about three in the morning, so anyone that managed to get a quick glance of him likely wouldn’t recognize him right away. This was just...a little experiment. 

If he could move fast, how fast could he run? 

He had difficulty getting it to kick in at first. So, for a few minutes, he was just some weirdo in a red sweater running around the apartment complex. But there was something more, he could feel it. Something just waiting for him to reach out to it. Truthfully, the invitation seemed risky, but he wanted to dive right in. Maybe Hal’s recklessness was wearing off on him. 

It happened. Suddenly, the world was moving slowly around him. Birds flying at a crawl. Cars in the street that had been speeding were now moving at an idle speed. People around him almost, but not quite, frozen in time. 

He went from the apartment complex to campus, then from campus to downtown in seconds. 

It was exciting and terrifying all at once. He paused to look down at his hands and feet with a big smile on his face. What more could he do? Could he push the limits and go even faster? He sped off again, this time down an alley. However, when he got to that alley, he saw something that startled him, making him pause.

Since he’d been startled, he had trouble coming to a dead stop and instead his feet sputtered on the ground. When he’d been speeding, he saw a huge bat-like figure between the rooftops, on its way down. By the time Barry managed to stop, the figure was on the ground as well, right in front of him. 

It wasn’t a bat. It was man. It was....

Barry’s eyes were wide. “Whoa. You’re real.”

Batman stared at him. “You’re Barry Allen.”

Barry blinked. “How...do you know my name?” So much for his “disguise.” 

“I make it my business to know about the meta activity in my city.”

Meta? Did he just call Barry a meta? Barry almost laughed, but Batman was so intimidating that he couldn’t muster the sound. Little was known about Batman. Almost nothing, in fact. The rumors pretty much just said that a guy dressed like a bat beat up bad guys at night. Some of the rumors said he preyed on the innocent as well. Barry had no idea what to believe yet.

“Meta? I think there’s been a misunderstanding.”

“My scanners clocked in your movement at near 700 miles per hour.”

Barry’s eyes widened. _Seven hundred miles per hour?_ “You’re kidding me…”

“I want to talk to you.”

Barry didn’t know how he felt about that. “Okay, well, I’m listening.”

“The entire makeup of your body has changed. It’s more than just your speed. Your metabolic rate has also sharply increased.”

“Is that why I had so much pizza earlier? It was like I couldn’t stop eating.”

“You also have accelerated reflexes and healing abilities. There might be more. It remains to be seen.” 

Okay, this was just getting weird. Where the hell did this guy get off telling Barry more about his new abilities than Barry knew yet? Who was he? Where was he getting this information? Maybe he was a doctor from the hospital or something. Who else would have been able to get his information? Maybe Hal had seen something weird during his visits to the hospital during Barry’s coma. He’d have to ask him. 

Also, did he say accelerated healing?

“Listen. I don’t know where you’re getting your information or how you know me, but if this is your idea of helping me, I can’t say I’m enjoying it. You’re gonna need to be more honest with me.” 

“You need help getting adjusted to your speed and abilities. I have facilities we can use and run tests.”

That...sounded pretty good, but this was all still freaking Barry out. “Why? Why do you want to help me?”

Batman didn’t answer him. 

Barry frowned. “You know, I have this friend. He said he wanted to help me, too, but he’s been through a lot. It doesn’t matter to him though. He just knows I need help. Most people think he’s selfish and doesn’t care about anyone but himself, but that’s not true at all. They don’t see who he really is because they don’t look. And you, you’re just a rumor in this city. I hear people are afraid of you. Are you like my friend? Someone that people don’t get because they don’t look?”

Instead of answering, Batman said, “I will be in touch with you. In the meantime, keep your powers to a minimum. There’s a lot of people in this city who do dangerous things to metas.”

He pulled out a grappling gun and shot it to the roof of one of the nearby buildings, then he was off. 

Barry watched as he disappeared. Well, this was certainly weird. For one thing, Batman being real changed his entire perspective on Gotham. Second, how did he know he could trust him? If it had been Superman he’d run into, it wouldn’t have been a question. But this guy was so different because he was so mysterious and no one knew anything about him. He knew so much about Barry, more than Barry knew about himself, and that’s the part that was really terrifying. That in itself was much scarier to Barry than his suit or the gruff voice or anything else. How did he know so much? For the moment, his working theory was still that he was from the hospital but...he’d been in that coma for three weeks. It could have been anybody, at any time. 

He had no idea when or how Batman would contact him again. He said he’d be in touch, but when? Was he sincere? Who were these people in Gotham that “do dangerous things to metas”? 

Maybe Barry should, at the very least, be more careful about his tests until he learned more.

He sped directly home right after, but vowed to keep his powers to a minimum in the future. Trust Batman was risky, but something told him this was the right decision.

When he got home, he found the soles of his shoes burned up. Well, crap. Guess this whole speed thing had some downsides after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Hal but when writing him sometimes, I want to smack him lol.


	7. Hills to Climb

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry has to accept his own truth, but what about Hal?

Her name was Jillian. She met Hal in the aviation program on campus, sharing his aspirations of becoming a pilot. Apparently she’d grown up close to an air force base. She was, of course, very pretty. Blond hair, blue eyes. Exactly Hal’s type. Probably even the girl of his dreams. 

And she was in their apartment. 

She and Hal had gotten in sometime last night when Barry was getting ready for bed. He had come out of the bathroom from brushing his teeth when the pair came through the door, hands all over each other. She was giggling. Hal was wearing a cowboy hat. He’d said it was hers. 

“Barry! Surprised you’re still up,” Hal had greeted with a wide grin. He was sober, at least. So there was that.

Barry was uncomfortable beyond words, but why? Maybe it was a little awkward, but there was an irrational, painful pit in his stomach that he couldn’t shake.“I, uh, was heading to bed.”

“Barry, this is Jillian. Jillian, my best friend Barry.”

Jillian smiled at Barry and greeted him. Hal explained quickly how they’d met before the pair skipped off to Hal’s bedroom. They were both giggling, and it was pretty clear what was going on. 

Exactly Hal’s type. 

It was a long night. Barry kept hearing the two of them and it made him feel sick. The apartment was so small that it wouldn’t have mattered where he went, he still would have heard them. After awhile, he put earplugs in, and ended up falling asleep with them still in. 

That in itself was enough, but on top of it, he’d dreamed about Hal. The annoying thing was that he couldn’t remember the dream, he could only remember Hal’s presence in the dream. It made him feel incredibly unsettled when he woke up. The kind of unsettling feeling when someone shifts everything in your house just a little to the left; everything is still there, but it’s all wrong somehow. 

He woke up really early, but he didn’t care. If he tried to fall back asleep, he might remember the dream, and he didn’t want to. He already knew the truth. The problem was, he was trying to forget about it. Just as he had been for months. 

The truth was that he knew he had feelings for Hal. The truth was that he’d known about these feelings for months, since long before Hal’s father had died. Months upon months, he’d been struggling to forget about the feelings and move on, but when he lived with Hal, it wasn’t an easy task. 

When he first met Hal, he hadn’t known what to think. Hal liked to pretend he was suave and charming. To an extent, he was. But there was so much more. When they became roommates, Barry gradually began to see those other layers more and more.

But then Hal fell into his...slump or whatever it was. His grades fell. He began drinking more. He got ruder towards others, including Barry. He grew apathetic towards life.

And then, the loss of his father. 

Where would Barry fit into all that? He couldn’t even dream of starting something with Hal when Hal was still trying to figure his life out and then process the loss of a parent. Besides, all signs pointed to Hal being straight. He flirted with girls, talked about girls. 

But then he remembered Oliver telling him that Hal was clearly into him. Where in the world had he seen or heard that? In any event, Oliver had also warned him against jumping into something too soon. Barry agreed. 

But now here Hal was, in his bedroom, in their apartment, with a really attractive woman and Barry just….

Holding hands, he realized while cooking up some eggs and sausage. He’d been holding hands with Hal in the dream. Hal had made a comment about how warm Barry’s hands were, and Barry had smiled.

Goddammit. Of all people he had to fall for, it had to be his roommate and best friend. He’d almost felt like he’d betrayed Hal somehow. It was amazing that Hal hadn’t called him on it, after all those times that Barry had pointedly reminded him that they were _friends_. 

This breakfast wouldn’t be enough to fill him with all the calories he needed now, but he had to be careful with a stranger in the apartment. Maybe he could grab something else to eat while he was out later. 

Hal emerged from his room, only wearing a pair of shorts, and yawning. He shut the door behind him and Barry was thankful, because while he had nothing against Jillian, he didn’t want to see her right now. 

Hal sniffed the air and grinned. “Something smells good.”

“I was just making myself breakfast, but I can make you some, if you want.” 

Hal leaned on the counter and waved his hand dismissively. “You need all the calories you can get now.”

“Yeah,” Barry said with a frown. “My food bill’s already expensive.”

“I don’t think just eggs and sausage are gonna fill you up. You need something that’ll really pack that belly of yours.”

Barry made a face. “I’ll figure it out after I’ve done some more research.”

Hal made his way into the fridge, opening it and staring inside like something that sounded good would magically pop out. “Speaking of, when are we gonna do something about that? I had an idea, actually. We could use the airfield used by my class in the evening. It’s easy to get into, and wide open so you can run as much as you want. I can time you, and we’ll go from there.”

Talking about this right now was probably a bad idea with Jillian in the apartment because even though she was in Hal’s room, there was a chance she could overhear everything. “I haven’t figured that out yet but Hal, I don’t think we should talk about this right now…”

“What? Barry, you can’t just let these powers sit there.”

“Hal,” Barry said, harsher this time. “Please drop it, or at least keep your voice down. I will get to it eventually, I’m just waiting for something. Don’t worry about it right now.”

Hal pulled out a gallon of milk and, much to Barry’s chagrin, started drinking it straight from the jug. “Waiting for what?”

“More information. I’ll explain later. Please don’t drink the milk like that…”

Hal capped the jug and put it away again, closing the fridge. “What do you mean ‘more information’? You didn’t already do tests without me, did you?”

Dang it. He told himself he wouldn’t tell Hal about Batman at all, mostly because Batman had sworn him to secrecy. “No, I just….looked into something. It might be a dead lead. I will tell you _later_.” 

“What? I thought we were doing this together. I’m the one who helped you discover all this, you know. Why are you being so weird about it? Tell me!”

Barry, who considered himself a usually patient person, felt like he might blow his top. Did Hal completely miss the part where this whole thing was supposed to be a secret and he didn’t want Hal’s new girlfriend or whatever she was to know about it? Barry had plenty of reasons for wanting to keep this a secret as it was, but the warning Batman gave him about people in this city who want to do dangerous things to metas kept sticking out in his mind. The last thing he wanted was to bring danger to himself, Hal, or any of his friends. So Hal really needed to shut his big mouth. 

The words came out before he could stop them. “Because he asked me not to say anything, now will you please drop it?”

Oh. Crap.

Acting like nothing had just happened, he pushed his cooked breakfast onto a plate and tried to act nonchalant as Hal stared at him in disbelief. 

“ _Who_ asked you not to say anything?” Hal demanded. 

Barry didn’t look at him. “I...I can’t tell you. It could be dangerous.”

“You can’t tell your best friend that you might be in trouble?”

“Hal, please just trust me on this. I’ll tell you when I can, but I can’t right now.”

Hal continued staring at him. Barry couldn’t tell if he was pissed off, hurt, or both. Truthfully, Barry felt guilty for hiding this from him and if it weren’t for Jillian being in the next room, he just might actually have told him about Batman anyway. But, well, here he was, pissing Hal off instead. 

“Who is it?” Hal asked. “Clark? Ollie? _Bruce_?”

Barry almost choked on his eggs. “Bruce? God, no. And it’s not any of them. You don’t know them. I can’t tell you. If I promise to tell you later, will you please drop this before eager ears overhear? Besides, I have something else I wanna tell you.” You know, before Hal accuses him of hiding yet more information. 

Hal seemed to calm down and leaned on the counter again as Barry continued eating his breakfast from the other side of it. “Okay. Fine. What do you wanna tell me?”

“I’m going home this weekend. I wanna visit my dad.”

Hal, for whatever reason, looked a little saddened. “Oh.”

The hell was that about? Hal had brought a _girl_ home, and he was sad that Barry was going to see his dad? Barry took a deep breath, trying not to get too agitated. 

“I...haven’t had a chance to see him since I woke up from my coma. I was going to tell you last night, but you were, uh, distracted. I have a flight leaving this evening.”

Hal nodded, looking down at the counter. “Cool. Tell your dad I said hi?”

Barry almost smiled, but not quite. “Of course. You know, one of these days, you should meet him. He’d like you.” 

Hal chuckled dryly, moving to take a seat at the dining table. “Yeah, Bar. I’ll go down with you sometime.” 

Now Barry was starting to get the sense that something was really wrong. Hal had been acting strange the moment he’d emerged from the bedroom, and Barry had figured it was just because of Jillian, but was it? He should probably let it go, but whenever Hal was like this...it tugged on Barry’s heartstrings, and he couldn’t help but ask what was wrong.

Which was funny, really, because Hal wouldn’t always do the same for him. But his stupid feelings didn’t care about that, apparently. Not that Hal didn’t care about him, but Hal could be a little…absent.

“Hal...is something wrong?”

Hal hesitated, picking at the table, refusing to look at Barry. “She doesn’t….I don’t….”

Barry waited, stuffing more eggs in his mouth as his concern grew.

“I don’t...like her...like I thought I did.”

Jillian. Was that the real reason Hal was out here talking to Barry instead of still being in the bedroom with her? “Oh. I’m sorry…”

Hal shook his head. “She’s nice. She’s gorgeous. But she just…”

Barry took a deep breath and wiped his mouth with a napkin before he spoke again. “Sometimes, the spark just isn’t there. It’s nobody’s fault. It just happens.”

“What, have you been through this before?” Hal’s tone was mocking. Barry knew he didn’t really mean any malice, but it still stung anyway, because…

“I’ve told you about Iris.”

Hal was very still for a moment. “You did. Sorry.”

“It’s okay. Just be honest with her, okay?”

Hal nodded slowly. “Yeah. Thanks, Bar. I should...get back there.” He slowly pushed himself up from his seat and started walking off.

“Oh, Hal, can you drive me to the airport later?”

Hal looked back at him from over his shoulder and sent him a wink and a thumbs up. It was clearly forced, but it was nice to see that glint in his eye nonetheless. 

“Anything for you, Bar.”

* * *

Hal decided, for once in his life, to take Barry’s advice and tell Jillian the truth. It...could have been worse. He didn’t blame her for being disappointed since he’d taken her out then brought her home and had sex. It made him feel like an asshole as it was, and she was pretty hurt but she didn’t go as far as to say she never wanted to talk to him again or anything. He apologized, and she said she accepted it but….that tension between them likely wasn’t going away for awhile. That sucked because they were in the same flight program but, so it goes. 

Well, this weekend was going to suck. No girl, his best friend was away, and he was still keeping himself off alcohol. 

It was late Friday night and he was restless. In the past, when he’d been in these types of moods he’d just drink and relax, but he wasn’t doing that anymore. Maybe, eventually, he’d allow himself a drink every once in awhile, but as it stood he still didn’t trust himself. So, no alcohol. 

He decided to go on a walk instead. Truthfully, he didn’t explore Gotham enough. That was mostly because he didn’t like it, but there had to be more here he could appreciate than just some stupid bars. He missed Coast City. Gotham was worlds different, almost like it was on another planet. Maybe he should have gone to school someplace else like Metropolis. But then he wouldn’t have met Barry….

His walk brought him downtown, where the architecture was even creepier than it was in the rest of the city. What was with all of these silly gargoyles? Who the hell designed these buildings? No wonder there was rumors about some guy running around in a bat costume. This city was built for freaks like that.

Deciding to make his walk worth something, he stopped by a fast food place and picked up a couple of burgers and some fries to go. Not the ideal meal, but he wasn’t in the mood to cook when he got home anyway. Plus, he was terrible at it.

Upon emerging from the restaurant, his eyes caught sight of a small boy sitting on the roof of a nearby building. It was hard to get a good look at him from the angle Hal was at and because it was dark, but it looked like he was holding his knees to his chest as he sat on the ledge. Just a child, up there alone, looking sad and scared. 

Panic hit Hal’s stomach. That child wasn’t planning to jump...was he? He was so small, he had to be so young….

The kid wouldn’t hear him from down here and if he did, it might startle him. He could call the cops, but they might be too late and also might startle him. From where he stood, he spotted a fire escape on the side of the building that he could use to get to the roof. Not ideal, but it would work.

Climbing up the fire escape wasn’t easy because when he got to the top of it, he had to jump just to reach the edge of the roof and then pull himself up. Holy hell. Good thing he’d decided to work out lately. He knew he must have looked silly doing that while holding his bag of food in his teeth, but hey, that meal was like ten bucks and he was a broke college student. He would drag these burgers to hell and back. 

As Hal emerged, the kid, who was on a different side of the roof, spun around immediately to look at him. Hal was impressed that he’d heard him, because he thought he’d been pretty quiet. 

“Who are you?” the kid demanded. 

Hal, now fully on the roof, got to his feet and pulled his bag out of his mouth. “I was about to ask you a similar question. What are you doing up here, kid? Who’s with you?”

The kid glared at him. He had striking, bright blue eyes and a head of jet black hair. He couldn’t have been older than 8 or 10 years old, and was scrawny as hell. “No one’s with me. Leave me alone.”

Hal had no idea what to do around kids. Kids were fine, but he’d just never been around them much. But if this kid was thinking of jumping, then Hal wasn’t about to walk away until he’d gotten him off this roof. He needed to connect with the kid somehow. Hmm….

Then he remembered he had food. He held up his bag and offered the kid a grin as he slowly moved closer. “Are you hungry?”

The kid looked away, looking back down at the street. 

Okay, Hal. What would your dad do? He sighed, thinking for a moment.

“My name is Hal Jordan. What’s yours?”

“Grayson. Dick Grayson.”

Did this kid really go by Dick? Actually, nevermind. Not important right now. Then, something clicked in his mind. “You’re not...one of the Flying Graysons are you?”

Hal hadn’t been to the show, but he’d heard the news. The famous acrobatic family had a terrible accident at the circus when it stopped in Gotham a few months ago. Now that he thought about it, this kid looked just like the Grayson kid in the pictures he’d seen in the papers. He was an orphan now, but Hal didn’t remember seeing any news about what happened to him. Maybe he’d just become a ward of the state? Either way, Hal should probably get him to the nearest police station. He had a feeling that’d be pretty tricky. 

The kid pulled his knees to his chest again. “Yeah, I’m that kid.”

Hal was beginning to feel like his life was surrounded by people who’d lost their parents too early. 

He moved closer to Dick’s side of the roof and sat down on the ledge, but with some distance between them. “The Flying Graysons….,” he mused with a whistle, opening his fast food bag. “You and your parents loved to be in the air, right? I can relate to that. My old man was a pilot. That’s what I plan to do, too. He used to take me flying all the time and there’s nothing like being above the ground.”

Dick looked at him curiously. “What happened to him?”

“He...came down. Permanently.” 

Dick frowned. “Like my parents.”

“Yeah, kinda,” Hal said. He pushed a burger box over in his direction. “You like burgers?”

He half expected Dick to toss it off the ledge, but he didn’t. He looked at Hal cautiously but took the box and placed it on his lap. Hal watched with amusement as the kid picked the burger out of the cardboard box and picked it up, looking over every inch of it carefully, inside and out, with the eye of a detective from a cheesy old movie.

Hal couldn’t help but chuckle. “It’s not poison. I just picked it up across the street.” He started in on his own burger, keeping a close eye on the kid.

After several moments of inspection, Dick started eating his burger, too. “You can’t be too careful.”

“Fair enough,” Hal said with a grin. “You know, you look like you could use a few more of those.”

“Nuh-uh! Food like this will slow me down if I have too much of it.”

Hal couldn’t help but laugh as he ate. Who was this kid? “Now you sound like you’re almost too smart for your age.” 

Dick finished his current bite, looking back down at the street shamefully. “Someone I know doesn’t think I’m smart enough…”

“Join the club, kid.”

“What? Is there someone who doesn’t think you’re smart enough?”

“There’s a _lot_ of people who don’t think I’m smart enough.”

“Really? What do you do about it?” Dick was wide-eyed. It was adorable.

“Keep trying. Not for them, but for me.”

Dick frowned. “I’ve been trying really hard.” 

“I hear you, kid. I do. Keep at it. The last time I talked to my dad, I was in a rough patch. He just looked at me and said, ‘son, never give up.’ Well, he’s gone now, and I’m still figuring things out, but I understand what he meant. My dad never gave up on anything. He was fearless and faced any challenge no matter what, but it wasn’t always easy for him. He had hills to climb too. We all do. But if you keep trying, if you never give up...that breakthrough will happen.”

Dick had been eating while Hal was talking, and he looked like he had his doubts about some of Hal’s words but he seemed to be considering them nonetheless. Hal started to think he should have gone through some of that more slowly, but the words had just kind of rolled off before he thought about it. 

“Have you...had your ‘breakthrough’ yet?” Dick asked, looking back up at him again. 

“Not yet,” Hal said. He figured he might as well be honest. This kid seemed pretty sharp anyway. “But I can feel it coming, and the only way I’m gonna get there is if I fly straight towards it with no fear.” 

Hal finished his burger and started in on his fries. Dick was still eating and thinking. For a long time, he didn’t say anything, and Hal really wanted to keep this conversation going.

“What brought you up here, Dick?”

“That guy I told you about got mad at me for messing up, so I came up here.”

“You came up here to….”

“Think. I came up here to think.” Then, Dick’s eyes changed as he had a realization. “You thought I was going to jump, didn’t you?”

Hal waved his arms defensively in a flail. “What? No, of course not. I just thought I’d come up here and enjoy the nice view of beautiful Gotham City.”

Dick glared at him.

Hal sighed. “Okay, fine. But….don’t you think you should get home? This city’s pretty dangerous. Especially at night.”

Dick finally finished his burger and pushed the empty box aside. “I don’t wanna….”

Poor kid. Hal felt for him, but there was no way he leaving until this kid was safe somewhere. “Okay, just tell me where you live, and I’ll take you home. Or I can drop you off at the police station if you’re more comfortable with that.”

“I live at Wayne Manor.”

Hal’s brows furrowed in confusion. Did he hear that right? Was this kid just playing some kind of game with him? 

Just then, Hal heard a familiar voice from the street below them calling loudly. 

“Dick! Dick, there you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

It was Bruce Wayne. 

What the hell?

Hal stood up on the edge of the roof, his first thought being how shady this must look, with him up here with a small kid, alone. “I was trying to get him down!”

Bruce ignored him. “Dick! I’m coming up there!” He disappeared along the side of the building.

Hal looked over at Dick, who wore a guilty look on his face. Yeah, he knew he was in big trouble. This raised about a million questions that Hal probably didn’t have the right to ask, but he could still leave the kid with something, right?

He leaned down and placed a friendly hand on Dick’s shoulder, giving him a comforting, warm smile. “Keep trying, Dick. Your breakthrough will come. I promise.”

It was hard to tell since it was dark and the lighting up here wasn’t so great, but Hal could have sworn he saw Dick smile. 

Then, at the other side of the building where the fire escape was, he heard Bruce struggling. “Ah! Little help?”

Hal moved over to find Bruce struggling to reach the roof from the top of the fire escape. As much as he was sure he hated this guy— even in the short times they’d spoken— he had to help him if he really was Dick’s guardian. Hal reached down to Bruce, offering his hand.

“Here, I’ll pull you up.”

Bruce grabbed onto his arm and Hal pulled. Holy _shit_ Bruce was a lot heavier than he looked. Somehow, by some miracle, Hal managed to pull him up. There they were, two college students on the roof getting all scuffed up. Only difference was that Bruce was wearing some fancy suit. Well, it was a little less fancy now.

Both men made their way to their feet. Dick stood facing them, but still close to the other edge. 

“I can explain,” Hal said, hands up.

“Please do,” Bruce said, staring at him. Oddly, he didn’t really look...angry the way Hal expected.

Dick interjected before Hal could answer, “he came up here because he thought I was gonna jump, and I wasn’t.” 

At this point, Hal really wanted to just go back to the apartment. He looked between Dick and Bruce, just hoping to get out of this easily. “Is this your kid? I mean, not really your kid, but like…”

“I adopted him, yes,” Bruce said. 

“You don’t really seem like the parent type. And aren’t you still in Barry’s class? Dude, you can’t be that much older than me.”

Bruce chuckled. “Thanks for talking to Dick. I guess this makes us even now.”

There was still something about Bruce that seemed so fake to Hal. In the few short conversations they’d had, it was like Bruce was forcing it. Hal couldn’t tell if that was just because he was richer than god or if it was something else. In any event, Hal didn’t see this as making them “even” but if that’s what helped Bruce sleep at night, whatever. Bruce had helped Hal’s best friend, and now Hal had helped Bruce’s adopted kid. Go figure. 

“Sure, whatever,” Hal said. “You might wanna keep a better eye on him though. I have no idea how he got up here. That fire escape is a piece of shit.”

Dick just looked to Bruce, then back to Hal, but didn’t say anything. 

“I will, Hal,” Bruce said. “Thank you.”

Hal jerked a thumb back towards the fire escape. “Do you two...need help getting down?”

Bruce just smiled and pulled out his phone. “I’m going to have someone pick us up. If you don’t mind, I’d like you to leave us so I can speak with him.”

That seemed weird, but whatever, he was a rich guy. Probably gonna call in a helicopter or some fancy crap. Hal shrugged, figuring it wasn’t his problem anymore. He’d come up here to keep a kid from doing something stupid, and as far as he was concerned, he’d succeeded. 

“Sure,” he said. He turned his attention to Dick. “Remember what we talked about, yeah?”

Dick smiled. “Thank you for the burger, Mr. Jordan.”

Hal laughed. “Just Hal. Seriously.” He looked at Bruce and gave him a short wave. “Take care of that kid.”

“Of course,” Bruce said with another smile. “Give Barry my regards. I hope he’s been recovering well.”

“It’s Barry. He knows how to stay on his feet,” Hal said. And with that, he was climbing off the roof and back down the fire escape. 

He definitely wanted to go home. What a night. Cool kid though.


	8. Fearless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During an evening together, the pair reflect on how much their lives have changed and where they'll go from here.

Hal and Barry discovered that neither of them had the proper equipment to calculate Barry’s running speed. It was pretty hard to use a regular timer because Barry would move faster than Hal could hit the button. So that idea was out. No matter though because Hal had other ideas to help Barry instead.

It was pretty risky coming out to the campus tennis court to do this. At least with the airfield they were almost certain no one would be there, but on the campus tennis court, they were taking their chances. Barry was reluctant but figured he could also train and keep his eye out to react in time. The court had a tennis ball machine that launched a ball per second at near 100 mph. If anything, this was too slow for Barry, but it wasn’t just about speed. It was also about testing and practicing his reaction time. And instead of hitting the balls, he had to catch them. 

They had to make do, but Hal was determined to help Barry, regardless of whoever else might be helping him.

Barry wore a red hoodie with the hood up, which made him feel silly, but he was still worried about someone seeing them. He stood on the other side of the court, looking at Hal standing behind the machine with a big grin. 

“Ready?” Hal asked, hand hovering over the start button.

Barry nodded. “Ready.” 

Hal hit the button, and Barry seemed to vanish before his eyes. He caught only a ghost of him here and there between seconds. So far, Barry was catching all the balls, cradling each of them in his arms. 

“Keep it up, Barry!”

But as soon as Hal spoke, Barry froze for just a fraction of a second, and a ball flew right by him. Hal frowned. 

“You have to be able to do this with distractions too!” 

Barry responded to him in between the seconds that the balls were launched.

“I...can’t...hear...you...when...I...move...fast!”

“Oh,” Hal said to himself. He laughed a little. “I bet I sound like those teachers from Peanuts at your speed.” 

Eventually, all the balls were launched. Barry had only missed two. He cradled the rest in his arms and looked at Hal curiously, his hood shifting as he tilted his head.

“Now, what were you saying?”

“I said you have to be able to do this with distractions too.”

“Why?”

Hal made a face. “What do you mean, why’? This could save your life one day, Bar. We live in a world with Superman and now they’re saying there’s some Wonder Woman who’s a lot like him. Who else is out there? You don’t know.”

“Are you suggesting I become like them?” Barry asked. He didn’t know how he felt about that yet. He hadn’t even considered it, truthfully. When it came to his future, his plans involved being able to free his dad and find out who really killed his mom. Was Hal suggesting something much bigger and, frankly, much crazier? 

Hal shrugged. “You’re always saying you wanna catch bad guys or whatever.”

“You keep saying that, but I’ve just said I want to help bring justice. It’s not as simple as ‘catching bad guys.’”

“Whatever, you know what I mean. Anyway, you should be able to use these powers to their full potential if you have them, so you have to focus.”

Barry frowned. “Hal, it sounds like that’s what _you_ want to do.”

Hal deadpanned. “Am I the one with super speed? No. What if you’re in a bank one day and it’s being robbed? What if you’re getting a coffee and you see someone shooting another person in an alley? What if you’re shopping and you see some guy steal an old lady’s purse? Ask yourself Barry, with these abilities, would you really just let those things happen?”

Barry didn’t say anything. Hal continued, “You’re always saying you want to help people. This is the perfect way to do that. Who could even touch you?”

Barry looked down at the pile of tennis balls in his arms and sighed a little. “You’ve made your point. Can we continue this discussion later?”

That was Barry’s way of saying he needed time to process what Hal said, and Hal understood that. He gave Barry a nod. “Yeah, okay. One more round with the balls? We just have to get the machine—”

Before he could even finish his sentence, Barry had sped over and loaded all the balls into the machine again. He was standing across the court empty handed by the time Hal was finished talking.

“—loaded. Oh. You did it already. Cool.” 

“Ready,” Barry said. 

Hal took one of the balls out of the machine, and before Barry could ask why, Hal hit the start button again and the balls started launching. 

Hal started taking while tossing the ball he had up and down in his hand. “Remember that first time I threw that stress ball at you? You’ve come a long way since then. You still won’t tell me who’s been helping you lately, but it’s cool. It’s cool. Whoever it is, they’re not _me_ , that’s for damn sure.”

The balls were halfway launched. Barry was catching every single one of them. Without any warning, Hal drew his arm back and threw his ball hard in between the machine launches of them. If it caught Barry off guard at all, he couldn’t tell. Barry caught it and it didn’t disrupt his pace in catching the other balls. 

Hal grinned. “Imagine what else you could do moving that fast. I bet you can make tornados with your arms. Maybe even run up the side of a building. I study physics, too. I bet it can happen.”

The balls were done launching. Barry stopped, carrying all the balls in his arms again. He was glaring at Hal.

“The way you were talking was distracting.”

Hal shot him a look. 

“Oh,” Barry said. “Right.”

Hal sighed, looking down at the ball machine. “Well, I’d offer a few more rounds, but it looks like you’re already beyond this point. This thing is too slow for you.” 

“Hal, we’ve been at this for awhile. You had me running around the airfield earlier, and now we’re here. Why don’t we call it a night? Also...I’m starving.”

Hal looked at him again with a faint smile. “Yeah, we can do that. We’re not going home, but we’ll get food.”

Barry pouted. “What’s your plan now?”

“I just wanna show you something. Don’t worry, it doesn’t involve running.”

“Alright...,” Barry said with a sigh. “Lead the way, then.”

* * *

They got tacos. Lots and lots of tacos. Thankfully, the place they stopped at was having a special so they could order a lot without spending too much. Hal’s plan was to bring the food to this special location he was taking Barry, but Barry started eating on the way there as Hal was driving. 

“Sorry,” he said with a mouthful, looking at Hal with a somewhat guilty expression. “I’m just really hungry.”

Hal smiled a little. “I know. Don’t worry about it.”

“Where are we going anyway? This highway goes outside of Gotham…”

“Not far,” Hal said. “We’re almost there.”

Hal turned off the highway to a smaller side road which ran up a very large hill. The further they went, the more secluded it felt. There were no more street lights, no other cars, no houses or businesses. Just a forest. Barry was confused, but Hal had been wanting to do this for a long time. 

Finally, he pulled off the road and stopped. They were high up on a hilltop overlooking Gotham. From this high up, the city didn’t seem nearly as creepy as Hal felt that it was up close. Plus, it was pretty late in the evening, so all the lights of the city sparkled under the moonlight. It was gorgeous. 

Hal shut the engine off and removed his seatbelt, looking at Barry with a grin. “Come on. Let’s get out and enjoy the view.”

Barry smiled back at him, gathering the bags of their tacos. “You bet.”

The pair got out of the car in favor of sitting on the hood, with their food between them. Now that they were actually here, Barry seemed a lot more comfortable. He was taking in the view as he was eating, and seeing him relax like that made Hal...really happy. 

“How did you find this place?” Barry asked between bites.

Hal picked through the bags to grab a taco for himself. “When you were in your coma, I got bored and wandered around a lot. I got sick of being in the city, so I came out here and found this. I’ve been meaning to bring you up here since you woke up.”

“I’m impressed, Hal. It’s beautiful.”

Hal looked at him for a moment, bit his lip, then looked back at the city. “Yeah. I dunno, kind of reminds me of flying. It’s not just the view for me it’s about...being away from everything.”

Nothing would ever beat flying for him. These days, he was beating himself up for having taken so long to figure out that being a pilot was what he wanted. But whenever his dad took him flying while he grew up, those moments up in the air with him made him feel alive like nothing else. He hoped he could feel that again as he learned how to become a pilot himself. He certainly felt like he could and there was only one way to find out. It was all about that feeling he got, that complete exhilaration and all the adrenaline from being up in the air. There was nothing like it. 

But this, being up here with Barry overlooking Gotham….

It was pretty close. 

“Sometimes it’s nice to get away,” Barry agreed. 

Hal laughed. “Says the guy who all but chains himself to his desk.”

“Hey! Just because I’m responsible doesn’t mean I’m uptight.” 

“You’re a little uptight.”

“No, I’m not! You’re not responsible _enough_.”

“I’m exactly as responsible as I need to be,” Hal said with confidence. “How much have my grades gone up since this school year started? A lot. What else have I done? I finally picked my major. Planning my future, which is something I never did before. Maybe I don’t turn in every single homework assignment or work late in a lab, but compare me to who I was at the start of the school year. Or even who I was when I met you. Am I that same person now, Barry Allen?”

Barry looked at him with a small smile. “That’s the thing, Hal. You are that person. You’ve always been that person, and you’ve always been who you are right now. It was in you all along. All you had to do was...shed some darkness.”

That wasn’t the answer Hal was expecting. Leave it to Barry to throw him a curveball like that. Hal looked at him with a mixed expression, one part thankful and one part unsure of himself. 

“I’m not...out of the woods yet.”

Barry looked at him curiously as he kept eating.

Hal pulled out his phone from his pocket, flipping through his photo album until he came to a selfie he’d taken with his dad the weekend before he’d died. They were both smiling in the picture. Hal hadn’t thought of it much before, but he really did look just like his dad, didn’t he? In the picture, it was almost like two versions of the same person in the photo. His dad had different cheekbones though. And a slightly more square jaw. 

“I miss him every single day,” Hal said quietly, looking at the photo. 

Barry frowned. “You’ll likely always feel that way. What are you thinking, Hal? Are you afraid those feelings will pull you back into the darkness? Trust yourself. Never give up, just like your dad said.” 

“Months ago, I was a mess. I had no direction, I drank too much, I was a jerk to everyone. I was a jerk to _you_. When he died in that crash, I had no idea how I was going to dig myself out of that hole. I never want to feel that way again.”

“I know, Hal. I know. But no matter what happens, you have it in you to keep going. I know you do.” 

“I want to be as fearless as my dad. And I will be.” 

Barry smiled. 

Hal put his phone away and started eating another taco. Barry was many, many tacos ahead of him but that was okay. They’d packed a lot for that reason. 

Something about being up here with Barry like this made Hal want to continue opening up, and he didn’t feel that very often, so he decided to continue taking advantage of the opportunity and the mood. 

“A few weeks ago, when you went home to visit your dad, something strange happened. I forgot to tell you about it. I was walking around the city when I saw this kid sitting on a roof. I was afraid he might jump, so I climbed up and talked to him. He was just a small kid. He told me he feels like he’s not good enough or whatever, and I told him…”

“Never give up?” Barry finished, looking at Hal with a small smile. 

Hal smiled a little as well. “Yeah. I told him never give up. And...I reminded myself so much of my dad talking to him like that. It was weird. It made me think about things. A lot. And I realized, I never want to be afraid anymore. Or at least, I don’t want to let my fears control me anymore.”

“That’s great, Hal.”

“And guess who the kid was? You know those Flying Graysons? That circus act that had that accident and the parents died? It was the kid from that. His name is Dick. But the real surprise? He’s in Bruce’s custody. Bruce adopted him.”

Barry’s eyes widened and he paused in his eating to look at Hal in disbelief. “What? Bruce Wayne? That guy can’t even navigate his way around the chemistry lab. And I’m pretty sure he’s close to our age. Really?”

“Really,” Hal said. “I know, that was my reaction too. He showed up looking for him. It was weird.”

Barry looked back out over the city. “Huh. Interesting.” 

“But, yeah, there’s a lot of things that have happened lately. I finally feel like...I’m figuring things out.” 

“I’m really glad to hear that, Hal,” Barry said. There were only a few tacos left. Hal seemed to be done eating, so Barry planned to work his way through the rest. “That’s all I ever wanted for you.”

It was, wasn’t it? Barry had been silently guiding him this whole time, from before his dad’s passing and then after. Barry didn’t yell at him or try to get him to change his entire personality. He’d simply wanted Hal to be the best person he could be. Hal couldn’t believe he didn’t see that before, but it was so clear now. There were so many times he should have seen it. Like the time he’d got arrested and Barry tried to figure out what happened, only to have Hal respond coldly to him. That was just Barry trying to protect Hal from his bad habits and make him realize he could be better. But Hal had been so terrified of disappointing him that he’d made it worse instead. That was behind them now. All the bad stuff was. They’d overcome all of it, to be eating tacos on the hood of Hal’s car overlooking the city at night. 

“And now, you have some figuring out to do too,” Hal said with a grin. He nudged Barry with his elbow. “You gotta figure out what these powers are all about and what you wanna do with them.”

“Yeah...I’ve been thinking about what you said at the tennis court,” Barry admitted. “And you’re right. I don’t think I could just walk away in instances like that.”

Hal didn’t want to say it out loud, but when he’d said those things to Barry earlier...he hadn’t fully thought over all the implications of what Barry running into danger could mean. He’d said those things because Barry helping people just seemed like such a natural thing, but now that Barry was saying this...Hal felt a panic in him. The same panic he’d felt when Bruce had called him about Barry’s coma. 

But that wasn’t the only feeling he had. 

“Even if it’s...putting yourself in danger?” Hal said. 

Barry rose an eyebrow. “Yeah, what do you mean? Wasn’t it your idea?”

“It was just a question,” Hal said defensively, looking out to the city. “What do you think you’re gonna do?”

Barry finished the last taco and pushed the trash aside. “I don’t know yet. But if I can use these...abilities to help people, then I think I wanna do that. Imagine how much good I could do, Hal. Imagine the people I could save. Mothers, fathers, children. Anyone. Imagine how much wrong I could set right just simply by moving fast.”

Barry Allen was...adorable. Hal had always thought so. They met by chance, one of the few times that Hal was in the library. Somehow they’d got to talking and found out they were both in need of a roommate. By some miracle, this responsible, studious, ambitious guy decided to give sloppy, unambitious, rude Hal a chance and room with him. They clicked. Even though they were so different, they were able to just talk to each other. They started hanging out together, and were friends— not just roommates— before they knew it. 

Then Hal started taking that friendship for granted. Then with the death of Hal’s father, everything fell into a tailspin. Truthfully, Hal still felt like he was on that tailspin, but he was getting better. Everyday he was getting better, and he’d come so far. There was no way he could have done this on his own or, at least, it wouldn’t have taught him as much. Barry was there the whole time, patient as he could be even when he got mad at Hal. And when he did show his anger towards Hal, it was well deserved. 

At some point, Hal had realized that there was no one else he preferred to spend his time with. He had other friends, sure. They both did, and they were grateful for them. But for Hal, Barry was the person he enjoyed the most to spend time with. Whether it was just hanging out or talking in their apartment or anything. As long as he was with Barry, everything was better. 

Barry was just...so good. His heart was so full and Hal loved that. Barry wasn’t without his imperfections, but who was? Hal didn’t care. It didn’t matter. He just wanted Barry exactly for who he was. The fact that Barry wanted to save people now with these new powers was the least surprising thing in the world to Hal. Barry would have gone that direction even without Hal’s suggestion. It was just who he was, and it was more proof of how full Barry’s heart was. The heart that Hal…

The heart that Hal wanted. 

He was sweating. His heart was pounding. His hands were clammy. There was a new fear in his heart. No, he didn’t want fear anymore. He was supposed to be fighting fear, but this? What was he supposed to do with _this_? And more importantly, how long had these feelings been inside him, waiting to be known?

“The night of your accident,” he began, looking down at his hands on his lap, “when Bruce called me and told me what happened….I feared the worst. Day after day I visited you in the hospital, talking to you because it might be my last chance. I was so afraid you wouldn’t wake up. And, Barry, I treated you like shit. That was going to be my last memory of you, and I couldn’t take it. I threw out every single alcoholic drink in the apartment and decided I was done. I just tossed all of it. But whether I drank or not, it wouldn’t bring you back. I already lost my dad, I…” He finally looked up at Barry, who was looking back at him with wide eyes. “I couldn’t lose you, too,” he finished. 

“Hal…” 

“I can’t believe I suggested you throw yourself at danger, but I know you, and I think that’s why I said those things. I know that you’re going to end up doing it anyway. You’re going to end up becoming one of those heroes, just saving people because they can. I’m not going to stop you. I’ll support you no matter what you do. I’ll help you as much as I can. But I’d be lying if I said that the idea of losing you doesn’t scare the shit out of me.” 

Barry scooted closer to him as though he felt the need to close the distance between them. His hand found Hal’s on the hood of the car and he placed his own over it. 

Hal’s heart was pounding a lot harder now. It reminded him of the time that Barry held his hands during his panic attack after the funeral. The touch had helped calm him down, chase away the demons. This was different, though. A lot different. 

For a very long time he’d had a suspicion that Barry had feelings for him. Barry was a caring person, but he seemed particularly attached and affectionate with Hal. Unfortunately, Hal’s way of interrogating him on the subject in the past hadn’t been the smoothest or most polite.

But Hal knew better now. 

“You’re not going to ever lose me,” Barry said, looking at him with those same wide eyes that were so full of feeling and warmth. “I’m not going anywhere. You’re not ever going to lose me. Ever.” 

No one, even a person with powers, could say a statement like that with absolute certainty. The way Barry said it, however, with so much feeling and warmth, made Hal want to believe it. The touch of Barry’s hand, the look in his eyes, the passion in his words….Hal couldn’t help but believe him. 

Cautiously, his hand that was under Barry’s turned over so he could intertwine their fingers. So they could hold hands properly. This touch was incredible. Clammy hands or not, he didn’t want to let go. It made his heart feel like it might burst. 

He smiled a little. “Your hand is really warm.” 

Barry smiled softly and there was a glint in his eyes, like he was realizing something. His voice came out as a whisper, “Hal...I don’t know how to say this, but I have to try…”

That fear in Hal’s heart was returning as Barry’s spoke. No, no, he was fighting fear now. Head on, no looking back. There was no room in his life for fear anymore. He refused. 

He leaned in closer, looking Barry in the eye. “Then let me help you,” he whispered. 

No more fear.

He closed his eyes and pressed his lips against Barry’s in a soft but passionate kiss. Barry responded almost immediately, pushing back against Hal’s lips with a soft moan that made Hal’s insides twist in the most delightful way. He felt Barry’s hand reach the back of his head, pushing him closer and tangling through his thick brown hair. It only made Hal kiss him harder as his arm reached around Barry’s stomach, pulling him and holding him closer. 

Hal’s mind was swimming. Something electric shot down his spine, and it wasn’t Barry’s static electricity. It was wonderful. All of it. 

Their lips slowly parted, but they remained close, staring into each others eyes. Hal kept his arm around him and brought his other hand to Barry’s chin, caressing it with his thumb. 

“Does that help?” he whispered.

Barry nodded, not taking his eyes away. He still had one hand on the back of Hal’s neck, like he was afraid to let him go. “I...I didn’t think you felt the same.” 

Hal looked down. “I didn’t either,” he admitted. “But now...it’s like, it was there the whole time and I just didn’t even see it. I was distracted, I just…”

Barry took the hand that wasn’t wrapped around Hal and lifted Hal’s chin again. “You were lost. I know. Stop beating yourself up. You don’t need to explain it to me anymore. I’m here. I’ve always been here.” 

“You have,” Hal said softly. “And now, I’ve found myself.” 

They both leaned in for another kiss. This time, the kiss grew more passionately and both men found themselves wrapping both arms around each other as they continued. 

Barry’s lips were soft, but his mouth and his tongue carried so much heat, as though the blond were greedy to savor every moment of this. For Hal, that only made him want to kiss him harder and hold him closer. So he did, and it didn’t take long before that fear in his heart had vanished entirely. Ignoring his fears and taking on the matter head on turned out to be just the right strategy. 

They only stopped when they were running out of breath. Hal wondered if Barry only seemed to have the same stamina as him right now because he’d had him running around and practicing on the tennis court earlier. Their lips parted, but they continued holding each other close. 

“Hal,” Barry whispered. “Please tell me we’re making this official.”

Hal leaned his forehead against Barry’s, smiling softly. “God, you’re adorable.”

“I’m serious. Please.” 

“I know. And yes, I swear. As long as you want it, yes.” 

Barry sighed. “I do.”

Hal shifted his hand to search for one of Barry’s, holding it again. He felt Barry squeeze his hand when their fingers interlocked.

“I do too,” he replied.


	9. The Crash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hal Jordan's life is about to take a turn he never could have anticipated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter picks up directly where the previous chapter left off.

Hal and Barry had been on the hilltop for so long that they’d each lost track of time. It was probably really late, but neither of them cared. It wouldn’t be everyday that Hal would get to kiss or hold Barry while overlooking such a lovely view of the city so he fully intended to take advantage of it as much as he could.

Barry was leaning against him, head on Hal’s shoulder as they sat on the hood of Hal’s car. Hal’s arm was wrapped around his shoulders and his free hand was locked with Barry’s. It was just so nice having him so close like this and it felt so natural, like they should have been doing this all along. Better late than never, right?

“Next time I’ll kiss you when my breath doesn’t smell like tacos,” Barry said.

Hal chuckled. “We just started this thing and you were already trying to spice things up.”

Barry nudged him playfully. “I can’t believe you.”

“You date me, you date my puns.”

“Shut up.” 

“Barry. Hey. Hey, Barry.”

Barry groaned. “Yes, Hal?”

“I hope you’re not as fast in bed as you are on your feet.”

This time, Barry nudged him so hard that Hal almost fell off the car. 

“Okay,” Hal said, straightening himself. “I deserved that.” 

“At least take me to dinner first.”

Hal grinned. “Noted.” 

Hal was about to say something else when his train of thought was broken by something sparkling in the sky above Gotham. It looked green, but beyond that he couldn’t tell what it was. Maybe some kind of shooting star? That would be perfect tonight, actually.

“Barry, you see that? Up there? Look.”

Barry lifted his head from Hal’s shoulder when he spotted it as well. “Yeah, what is that?”

The object grew brighter and brighter. Then, not just brighter, but bigger too. 

Whatever it was, it was coming down, and it was coming down fast.

“Hal,” Barry said nervously.

“I see it,” Hal said. 

The pair jumped off the hood of the car, looking at the sky.

“It’s coming this way,” Hal said, holding Barry’s hand. 

Barry bit his lip. “I’m sorry for this.”

“For what?” Hal asked.

Instead of answering, Barry moved fast, scooping up Hal in a bridal carry and speeding off with him at a safe distance away. When they finally stopped, they were far from the car but still on the hill as the object continued to come down. 

Hal hopped off Barry’s arms. “Okay, that made my head spin. How do you do that all the time?”

“I had to get us away,” Barry said from behind a tree. 

“If that thing lands on my car then someone owes me a new one.”

Barry grabbed Hal’s jacket and pulled him to his side. “That’s the least of your problems right now. Get over here.”

“Alright, alright.” 

The object drew closer, now just several feet above them. Hal saw the panic hit Barry’s face.

“I don’t think I took us far enough,” the blond said.

“Then go,” Hal said. “You can run.”

“Not without you!” Barry said. He tackled Hal, shoving him to the ground and shielding him with his body as much as he could. Hal gave a grunt when he hit the ground, but there wasn’t any time to protest or move. 

_CRASH_.

The object hit the ground hard and loud somewhere in the trees behind Hal’s car. The men felt the ground shake from under them briefly before it stopped. Hal moved his arms from his face to look at his car in the distance. The car was fine. Nothing touched it. Good. 

Barry moved off Hal and the pair moved to their feet again. 

“You okay?” Barry asked.

Hal brushed himself off, but glared at Barry. “Don’t you _dare_ use yourself as a human shield for me.”

Barry frowned. “You would have done the same thing. Besides, I can heal a hell of a lot faster than you can.”

“I don’t care. Don’t do that again.”

Deciding that wasn’t important right now, Barry changed the subject. “What do you think it was?”

There was some smoke coming from the trees where the object had crashed. They couldn’t see what it was from here, but it looked big. 

“I don’t know,” Hal said. “I...I feel like I should check it out.”

Barry looked at him incredulously. “Are you crazy? We need to call someone.”

Then, from somewhere around them, a seemingly disembodied voice beckoned loudly: “Hal Jordan of Earth. You have the ability to overcome great fear.”

Hal blinked, trying to find the source of the voice. He looked over at Barry. “I don’t know what that was, but it wasn’t funny.”

Barry held up his hands defensively. “It wasn’t me! That didn’t even sound anything like me.”

“Then what the hell was it?” 

Then Hal saw it. Something small and green flying through the air right for him. He felt an odd pull to the object he couldn’t explain and, before he thought about it, held out his hand with outstretched fingers as the object approached him. 

The green ring found his finger, sliding itself on. Hal was immediately enveloped in a quick but very bright flash of green light. It disappeared quickly, and had adorned Hal in a green, black, and white uniform with a symbol on his chest and a domino mask over his eyes. 

The voice again, coming from the ring: “Welcome to the Green Lantern Corps.”

Barry stared at Hal in awe. “Hal...what’s going on?”

Hal looked down at himself, trying to understand that question as well. “I don’t know...but holy shit, I look awesome.”

Barry was speechless and couldn’t take his eyes off Hal. He’d never seen anything like this before. What the hell was a Green Lantern Corps? Was the ring sentient? How did it know Hal? Hal didn’t know the answers to any of those questions either, but he intended to find out. 

Hal’s face turned more serious as he looked in the direction of the crash. “This ring came from the crash. I have to check it out.” 

“Then I’m going with you,” Barry insisted. 

The pair ran together through the trees to get to the crash site. Eventually, they got close enough to see that it was a small and strange looking ship. It was sleek and powerful looking, not something that could have gone down easily. Hal could immediately tell that ship was expertly designed with the best aerodynamics in mind, but that wasn’t the only thing he noticed. 

“That’s not a normal plane,” Barry said, echoing his thoughts.

“Doesn’t look military either,” Hal said cautiously. “I see an opening….”

Hal rushed forward towards the opening and Barry kept up with him, determined to stay with him as they tried to figure out what was going on and what Hal was wearing right now and why. The opening that Hal saw was a cracked door. It wasn’t opened all the way and Hal pulled at it, trying to give enough space to get inside the ship. He was a bit surprised when Barry stepped at his side to help. With some struggle, the two managed to pull the door open the rest of the way. 

Hal stepped inside, and nothing in the ship looked like anything he’d ever seen. It definitely wasn’t military. It wasn’t human at all. Then, he spotted someone laying on the floor near what looked like a pilot’s seat. Whoever it was, they were hurt pretty badly and covered in visible injuries. 

Hal rushed to their side and, when he got closer, realized that this person wasn’t human either. He had human-like characteristics, but his skin was purple and his face was very different from anything human. 

Hal and Barry exchanged glances as they processed what was happening. This was an alien, and whatever had happened to Hal had something to do with something alien as well. The fact that aliens existed wasn’t the surprise in itself, because they were aware of Superman, but actually encountering all this coupled with whatever changes Hal was going through was enough of a shock.

Hal turned his gaze back to the alien as he knelt at his side. “Hey, I don’t know if you can understand me, but we’re gonna get you outta here. We’re gonna get you some help.”

The alien shook his head. His voice was strained. “It’s too late for me. That’s why I beckoned the ring to choose a successor. My fate is sealed. I’m already dying.”

Barry looked at Hal with a confused expression, but Hal kept his focus on the alien. He shook his head quickly. 

“No, no, I’ll get you out. Come on.” 

“There’s no time. You have to leave, Hal Jordan of Earth. Take...take the power battery with you. The corps will find you soon.” He chuckled dryly. “Never thought I’d see the day an earth man takes a ring. You must be special.”

“Power battery?”

The alien pointed a glowing green lantern sitting nearby. “You must take it. Take it and go. There’s...there’s no time.” 

Hal looked at the battery, grabbed it, then looked back at the alien. “What’s...what’s your name? Do you have a name?”

“I am Abin Sur. Leave this ship before it’s too late.”

Barry looked around the ship as they spoke. It was truly a masterpiece and it appeared to have been attacked, but he wasn’t sure how. As he looked around, his eyes fell on what looked like a timer. The “numbers” were definitely alien, and the characters kept moving. Like a countdown. The timer was attached to a device that looked like...oh, no. 

It was a bomb. And if Barry was guessing right about the characters, it was mere seconds away before detonation. 

His head spun to look at Hal and Abin again. Abin was gesturing towards the door with a stern look on his face, like he was urging Hal to leave. 

“Hal, we have to get out of here,” Barry said urgently. “It’s gonna blow!”

“I’m not leaving him,” Hal said, still on the floor. “He’s hurt, we can save him!” 

Barry frowned. “I hope you’ll forgive me for this.”

He sped towards Hal, scooping him up again and racing out of the ship with him before Hal knew what was happening. The very moment they were outside of the ship, it blew and burst in a massive fireball. The blowback threw Barry off his speed and tossed him, Hal, and the power battery by several feet. 

They hit the ground next to each other while the explosion was still growing and somehow, suddenly, a large protective green bubble formed around them. The bubble successfully shielded them from flying debri and fireballs. 

The explosion stopped and in its place was a destroyed ship that continued to carry flames. 

The green bubble disappeared and Hal’s new uniform disappeared as well, his regular clothes returning. He jumped to his feet, looking in the direction of the ship with horror on his face. 

“No…I could have saved him…..” 

Barry climbed to his feet a little more slowly. “I’m sorry. If I could have taken you both, I would have.”

It wasn’t Barry’s fault. Hal knew that so he wasn’t angry with him, but that didn’t change the fact that he was upset for not being able to save Abin. He was helpless to save someone from a crashing plane twice now. Twice. As he stood there, watching the flames, his mind was brought right back to the flames from his dad’s plane that day in October. 

Barry must have sensed this because he put a gentle hand on Hal’s shoulder. “It’s not your fault, Hal. It looked like his ship was attacked and then a bomb was placed in it. There was nothing you could have done.”

Hal couldn’t take his eyes off the flames. “I never want to watch anyone die ever again.”

“Well, maybe you won’t have to. Hal...I think you protected us.”

Hal glanced at him, confused. 

“That green bubble? I think that was you. How did you do that?”

Hal glanced at the ring on his finger. “I don’t know. When we hit the ground, I was thinking that I had to protect us, and it appeared. Abin Sur, the alien, said that the corps would find me soon. Whatever that means. So, two things. One, this ring is powerful. And two, there’s more like me, but he said I’m the first human.”

Barry blinked, looking between Hal and the ring. “Wow….but, Hal. We need to get out of here. With this crash, it’s only a matter of time before the police or military show up, and I don’t think we wanna talk to them.”

Hal frowned. “You’re right. Come on, back to the car, since it’s still in one piece.” He picked up the power battery and started to walk back towards the car. When Barry didn’t follow him, he stopped and glanced at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Barry. Come on. The car.”

“You go. I’ll meet you back at the apartment.”

Hal’s brows furrowed. “I’m not leaving you.”

“I have to erase all traces that we were here, including your tire tracks, so they don’t trace this to us somehow. Go. I’ll meet you back at the apartment as soon as I’m done. I’m not taking no for an answer on this one, Hal. I have to protect us, just like you did.” 

Hal hesitated. 

“Trust me, Hal. Now, go.”

“Hurry back,” Hal finally said.

Barry shot him a smile. “I’ll be back in a flash.”

* * *

It just so happened that the moment Hal walked into the apartment, Barry suddenly appeared right behind him. Hal hadn’t been expecting him until later so he jolted in surprise but when he thought about it, he probably should have expected as much. Barry had the scene cleaned up in the time it took Hal to drive home. It made sense. 

“I told you I wouldn’t take long,” Barry said. 

Hal scowled, but mostly because he was irritated at being surprised. He shut the door behind them both. “If you keep using your speed out in the open, someone is gonna see you.”

Barry deadpanned. “You’re the one who had me running around on the airfield and the tennis court.”

Hal, no longer having the energy to argue with him, flopped on the couch after switching on the light and placing the power battery on the coffee table. He sighed heavily and glanced down at the ring on his fist again, examining it and trying to process everything that just happened. 

Barry’s expression softened as he sat with him. So much had happened tonight. They’d finally confessed their feelings for one another, shared a series of tender and passionate kisses, and then the crash of an alien ship. 

What a night.

“‘Green Lantern Corps’ sounds kinda military,” Hal said. “In a goofy, 1950s sci-fi sorta way.” 

Barry shrugged. “Who knows. But you’re gonna have to find a place to hide that lantern.”

“Abin Sur called it a power battery. I think it’s connected to the ring.”

“What is all this...for?” Barry asked. Not that he expected Hal to be able to answer, but this was a massive door that had just opened up and they still had no idea what was on the other side. 

“Well...you know how we were talking about you helping people with your speed? I think it’s like that. I don’t understand any of this yet, but I can feel the ring. It has so much power, I can feel it. I just don’t know how to, well, turn it on.”

Barry looked at the ring on Hal’s finger thoughtfully. “Maybe we’re both becoming...you know, like Superman or Wonder Woman.”

“Superheroes?” Hal asked. He couldn’t even say the word without a slight laugh. Barry had a point, but just saying it sounded so funny. “What are the odds that something happens to both of us? Isn’t that so weird?”

Barry bit his lip like he was thinking really hard about something, but hesitated. Hal knew that look. That was Barry’s thinking face and there was no way he was getting out of telling Hal what he was thinking about. 

“What is it?” he asked.

“I wasn’t supposed to tell you this, but now I think I have to.”

Hal’s brows furrowed. “How many more bombshells am I getting tonight?”

“It’s important. It’s about the person that’s been helping me in the past couple of weeks.”

Okay, that changed Hal’s mind fast. “I’m listening.”

“He asked me not to tell anyone, but with this happening to you, I feel like I should tell you. But….it’s Batman.”

Hal’s eyes widened. “What? Batman’s real?”

“Yeah, he’s real alright. He has all of this fancy tech and gear that he’s been using to calculate my speed and run tests on my body.”

“Wow. You trust him? Do you know who he is?”

“No idea who he is,” Barry said. “He’s...not what you’d expect, but he’s really smart. We’ve been talking about forensics. Do you know how many people I can talk forensics with? Not a lot. He knows his stuff. I’ve probably said too much, but anyway, he’s also working with me to develop a suit that can withstand all the friction from my speed but is also lightweight enough to help me move fast. I don’t know where he gets all of his resources from, but...I trust him.”

“Wait, are you getting a superhero costume?”

Barry couldn’t help but smile a little. “Something like that. I guess I am.”

Hal grinned. “You need a superhero code name.” He thought for a moment. His mind went back to the hilltop, when Barry had sent him off so he could clean up the scene. “What about...Flash.”

“Flash?” Barry repeated. “Yeah, I like it. I guess that makes you Green Lantern.”

“Flash and Green Lantern. How awesome are we?”

Barry smiled softly. “We’re very awesome.” He moved closer to Hal, resting his head on his shoulder, just as he had been earlier that evening before the crash. 

Hal placed his hand over one of Barry’s, unable to keep himself from smiling. “We’ve had a long night. Why don’t we turn in.”

“Honestly, Hal, as tired as I am...I still wanna spend time with you.”

“Bar, I meant...together.”

Barry was quiet.

“Not like...sex or anything,” Hal clarified. At least, not _yet_.

Barry squeezed his hand. “My bed is bigger than yours.”

“True. Your bed it is then.”

Before heading to Barry’s bedroom, Hal brought the power battery into the closet in his bedroom, stuffing it in the back and covering it with articles of clothing. Eventually, he would tinker with this and the ring later and try to figure out how all this worked and what it meant, but it was getting pretty late and he and Barry were both tired. All he wanted to do at the moment was hold Barry in his arms again. Somehow, he felt like that would help him make sense out of all this Green Lantern craziness. 

After hiding his power battery, he changed into a tank top and shorts to sleep in. When he made his way into Barry’s room, the blond had changed into a comfortable shirt and shorts as well, which was pretty standard for him. 

It was funny how now, Hal could actually look at Barry without feeling weird about it or feeling like he had to look away. He allowed his eyes to trace the blond’s form up and down and, now that he was giving himself permission to explore these feelings, he had to admit...Barry was really attractive. After Barry’s accident, not only was he given the power of his speed, but he also became more built. Barry was always in relatively good shape, but now his muscles were more defined. Right now, Hal was noticing it in particular in his legs and arms. Pretty nice. Not to mention he had the most beautiful blue eyes that Hal had ever seen. 

Barry caught him staring, and a soft pink formed across his cheeks. Hal expected him to look away or scold him, but he didn’t. Instead, Barry was staring right back, his eyes tracing over Hal’s form as well. 

Nobody looked at Hal like that. Even girls he’d dated before that had been attracted to him, it was just...different. There was something warmer in Barry’s eyes than he’d ever seen. It made Hal feel wanted, but it also made him feel….

He climbed onto Barry’s bed, folding his hands behind his head. “Huh. Your bed is softer than mine too.”

Barry chuckled as he climbed on the bed as well, sitting up. “Is that a good thing?”

“It’s like a cloud. I could get used to this.”

“Already making plans, huh?” 

Hal looked up at him and made a face. “Stop being shy. C’mere, you.” He grabbed Barry and pulled him down with him, causing the blond to make a yelping noise. When Barry hit the bed, Hal wrapped his arms around him greedily and pulled him close. “There. Now isn’t that better?”

Barry shifted in Hal’s arms, choosing to rest his head on his chest, wrapping an arm around him as well. Now he was comfortable. He shut his eyes and smiled contentedly. “Yeah. This is much better.” 

Hal stroked his hair gently. “Yeah. You know, I was really trying to make this a nice night.”

“But you did. You helped me train a little, we ate together, you showed me a great view. And now we’re...like this.”

“But the crash…”

“Happened, yes. But Hal...I don’t think I’d trade anything that happened tonight. Not when it brought us together like this.” 

Hal felt his heart pound. Why did Barry have to be such a sap? The fact that Barry was always so honest about whatever he was feeling was one of the things that Hal loved about him. In many ways, it helped Hal be more honest about what he was feeling, too. The other side of that was that Hal couldn’t imagine how difficult it must have been for Barry to withhold his feelings for so long. There were a few occasions when Hal was so sure he would slip up, and maybe even more occasions it almost happened that Hal was unaware of. It must have gotten to Barry so much. And then there was Hal, who was so deeply lost in himself that he was unaware of these feelings. They had been laying deep dormant inside him and he knew that now. He’d always cared about Barry, and it was always different than the way he cared about anyone else. 

And now, they were embarking on a very strange journey together that happened to coincide with their new romantic journey. That would sure be one hell of a test for them, wouldn’t it? Relationships were hard as it was without the complications of powers or a magic space ring. 

But if anyone could make it, they could. Hal wanted to believe that. For once, he wanted something in his life to stick. What better than this?

“Barry...I kept you waiting for so long…”

Barry opened his eyes and looked up at him. “Don’t. Don’t do that, Hal. Your most important priority is you. I want you to take care of yourself first. You lost your dad, Hal. I wasn’t about to throw more at you when you were still trying to process that. Not when I know what that feels like.”

Hal sighed. “There’s gonna be days where I’m a pain in the ass. It’s like I told you earlier, I’m not out of the woods yet. And with this weird ring thing I have now? I have no idea how my life is going to change.”

“There’s gonna be days where _I’m_ a pain too. We work through it. Together.”

Hal brought the hand that had been stroking Barry’s hair down to caress his cheek and chin, looking down at him lovingly. “I’m not used to things in my life working out.”

“You’re gonna get used to it now,” Barry said. “We both will.” 

Hal pulled Barry’s chin closer and kissed him for a long, tender moment. If nothing else, Hal was already getting used to how amazing it felt to kiss him and the warmth that spread through him when he did. So help him, if he ever screwed this up, he’d never forgive himself. And yet, Barry was just so hopeful that it would work out in spite of Hal’s flaws and that just made Hal even more determined to make this work.

Their futures were changing on a multitude of levels. They had no idea what tomorrow would bring, but they were heading into that future together.

When they broke the kiss, Barry was grinning.

Hal looked at him as he still held his chin, confused. “What?”

Barry made a noise that almost sounded like a giggle.

Hal frowned. “Are you gonna tell me, or…?

“It’s nothing, it’s just...Oliver called it.”

Hal rose an eyebrow. “Ollie did what now?”

“When I spoke with him before...he said he could tell you were into me.”

“Get out.”

“I’m serious. You can ask him.”

“Son of a….what did you say?”

“I didn’t believe him,” Barry said with a shrug. “I thought you were only into girls.”

That made Hal laugh a little. “That’s real funny. I will have you know gender is absolutely not a factor for determining how hot someone is.”

“I can’t say I disagree,” Barry said with a chuckle. He rested his head on Hal’s chest again and closed his eyes with a soft sigh. 

Hal rubbed circles into Barry’s back. “You’re pretty tired, aren’t you?”

Barry hummed, and Hal could already feel his breathing start to even out. Even though Hal was already feeling pretty tired himself, somehow Barry’s steady breathing and his heartbeat were enough to lull him to sleep even faster. He shut his eyes, deciding to let sleep take them both. 

Somewhere in the back of his tired mind he tried to get himself to say goodnight to Barry, but he was so comfortable that he was gone before he could get the words out.

He was pretty sure, though, that with all the excitement that happened tonight, he may not have been able to sleep on his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to give a thank you to everyone who's been reading/giving kudos/and commenting. This story has been a lot of fun for me, and it's actually the longest fic I've ever written ever, so it's also a personal milestone. 
> 
> The next chapter is the last one, and then a short epilogue will follow shortly after.
> 
> You guys have been great. Hope you enjoy the last parts of the story!
> 
> My twitter: [halhighball](https://twitter.com/halhighball) | My tumblr: [msgrayson](http://msgrayson.tumblr.com/)


	10. Moving Forward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that their lives have changed, Hal and Barry walk on a new path together.

“Flash!” Hal shouted in panic from the air. There was no time, so Hal formed a giant glove construct above Barry. The frozen pieces of debri falling from the top of the skyscraper were successfully caught, saving Barry from certain harm. Normally, Barry would have been able to move away fast enough, but he was going toe-to-toe with some freak wearing a fish bowl on top of a fridge for a suit. Hal had no idea who he was, but he’d already frozen a good chunk of downtown Gotham earlier that night. Luckily, Hal and Barry weren’t busy. 

It was a few months since Hal had inherited his Green Lantern ring. Since then, he’d been brought to a planet called Oa where he received training from a variety of alien races. In particular, one called Kilowog. It was...an experience. In any event, Hal had learned a great deal about his ring, how it worked, and what in all cosmos a Green Lantern even was, so now he was using his ring with confidence. 

Explaining this to Barry had been fun as well. 

“Hey, Bar. You’re gonna be a cop when you graduate right?”

“A forensic scientist working for the police department, yes.”

“Yeah, so...I’m like a space cop. So we’ll both be cops. Badass, right?”

Barry had smiled. “Of course.” 

While Hal had been on Oa, Barry had been working with Batman to finish his Flash suit. By putting their intellects together, they had made something that was lightweight but also durable in the way Barry needed it to be. Barry had designed the lightning bolt logo himself. He had some ideas as to how to make the suit portable, but he was just happy to have one for the time being. He’d showed it to Hal when Hal got back from Oa, and Hal’s reaction was...well, what he should have expected.

“Really shows off your nice ass.”

“This suit is made with advanced technology and special, rare fibers and that’s your reaction?”

“Yes.”

“Harold….”

And now here they were, in downtown Gotham at night, fighting some weirdo who called himself Mr. Freeze. Wasn’t this city Batman’s problem? Where the hell was he?

Hal took the frozen debri he caught with his glove construct and set them nearby in an empty lot. What he really wanted to be doing was helping Barry down below, but so many of these buildings had been frozen and then had bombs attached to them, so Hal was trying to contain as much of the damage as he possibly could. He’d already missed one bomb. Most civilians in the area had either been evacuated or fled, thankfully.

“Ring, scan this next block for more bombs.” 

“Scanning...three bombs found.” A mini, translucent screen appeared over the ring, showing the bombs located on a map. “Here are the locations.”

“Son of a bitch. Alright, let’s go.” With that, he flew off. 

His plan was to find each bomb, remove them, and contain their explosions with a construct. That was asking a lot of his concentration since he was still pretty new with the ring, but he didn’t have much choice. Enough of these bombs had already gone off and Hal really didn’t want to let more of that happen. 

A blue streak appeared out of nowhere, flying towards the building that Hal was heading toward. This caught Hal completely off guard. What the hell was that? The figure went inside the building and, fearing this was someone trying to cause more trouble, Hal sped up in his flight and followed fast. 

He entered the office building through a broken window near the top floor and when he landed on his feet inside, he saw the person examining the bomb with careful eyes. Hal’s eyes widened. 

“Superman?”

Superman turned to look at him. For a moment, he looked puzzled, but then his eyes widened, too. “ _Hal_? Is that you?”

Hal froze. “How do you know who I am?”

Superman smiled and looked absolutely delighted. “Hal, it’s me, Clark.”

That made Hal almost fall right over. “ _Clark_?! Are you kidding me? No way….” He thought about it for a second, then formed construct of a pair of thick-rimmed glasses over Clark’s face. “Holy shit...it is you.” 

“What are the odds?” Clark said with a laugh and a smile.

The construct disappeared. Just wait until he told Barry about this. “I can’t believe I’ve been friends with _Superman_ this whole time…”

“We’ll talk about this later, but I came here to get rid of this bomb. I’m guessing you did too?”

Hal nodded. “Yeah. Can you get it?”

Clark frowned. “I can, but it might set it off. Can you contain it?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, I’ll pull it off and you contain it. Work fast, H— uh, what do you call yourself?”

“Green Lantern.”

“Work fast, GL.”

Hal nodded. 

The bomb was about twice the size of a fist, so if Clark wanted to contain it with his grasp that wasn’t possible. Clark approached the wall where the bomb was attached, putting his hands over it. Nearby, Hal stood ready with his ring. Clark shoved his hands into the wall around the bomb and yanked the bomb out. The instant he did that, Hal formed a construct that resembled a vault around the bomb and Clark pulled his hands back. 

Just as Clark suspected, the bomb went off. Hal felt the intense force of the explosion within his construct, but was able to maintain his concentration and contain the blow. Afterwards, the construct disappeared, leaving only shattered remains of the bomb to fall to the floor below. 

“There’s two more of these,” Hal said. 

“Tell me where.”

“Follow me.” With that, Hal lifted off the floor and flew out of the window. Clark followed.

* * *

Meanwhile, down below on the streets, Barry was still struggling against Freeze. So far, Barry had been able to avoid being turned into an icicle from Freeze’s gun, but he was also making it difficult to get close to him, even with the speed Barry was moving at. 

This was making Barry realize that he actually wasn’t skilled in combat. At all. He’d only been training for his speed and other abilities that came with his powers. This is something he would have to change, because right now he was at a heavy disadvantage because of it. 

However, he did manage to get close to Freeze a couple of times and punch him with speed, but it turned out that Freeze’s suit was a lot more durable than it looked. It slowed Freeze down, which was good, but it wasn’t enough to stop him completely.

“I did not come here to fight with you,” Freeze said, approaching a nervous but determined Barry. “You are in my way. You are expendable.”

“What do you want?” Barry demanded, making fists again. 

“That is not your concern.” Freeze aimed his gun at him again, preparing to fire. Just how many times was Barry going to have to keep himself on the defensive? 

However, before he could fire, a glowing rope lassoed itself around Freeze’s gun and then yanked it out of his grasp. Both men were startled and looked over to see a woman at the other end of the rope, standing nearby. She didn’t looked happy. 

Two things registered in Barry’s mind. The first was that her outfit and the lasso meant that this was Wonder Woman. There hadn’t been much media coverage about her and little was known, but that was pretty clear. The second thing that registered was that Wonder Woman was a friend of his.

However, there was no time for that now. 

“Thanks!” Barry said. Diana looked at him with some confusion, as though she recognized his voice, but her focus went right back to Freeze, who didn’t look pleased to have been interrupted. 

“You both will get out of my way,” Freeze said, reaching for his gun again. 

“I don’t think so,” Diana said. She rushed to charge at him, kicking him hard in his chest. The force from the kick sent Freeze back several feet until he crashed into a nearby building. 

Wow.

Barry decided not to waste more time and sped over to grab Freeze’s gun before he could obtain it again. “No more toys for you,” he said. 

It looked like Freeze was, for the moment anyway, unconscious. That was convenient. 

Barry looked over at his friend and smiled. “Thanks for that, Diana.”

Diana glanced at him with a puzzled expression. “You know my name?” It seemed that she’d been trying to keep her profile as Wonder Woman low because she was enrolled in Wayne University. Yet, she was here now, fighting this big battle. So much for a low profile, depending on how many other people had seen her. 

Barry looked around then back at her, then lifted his mask just slightly to show her his face. Even though they hadn’t been extremely close, he trusted her. And she’d just saved his life. 

Diana’s eyes widened a little as she realized who he was. Barry put his mask back on and smiled. “Small world,” he said.

“So it is,” Diana said with a smile. “I’m glad to fight alongside a friend. What do you call yourself?”

“The Flash.”

Freeze was coming to again and gathered himself to his feet. “You have not defeated me. My plan to bring this city to its knees has already been set in motion. This petty squabble has not slowed me down.”

A voice from above interjected. “Oh, you mean those bombs? Yeah, they’re all gone now, thanks to your pal Green Lantern.” Hal was coming down from the air, arms crossed and grinning with pride. Clark was with him, and Hal jerked his thumb in his direction. “Oh, yeah, he helped a little.”

The two of them stood with Barry and Diana, all of them facing Freeze and ready for his next move. Freeze made fists in response to Hal’s comment, looking like he might blow. 

“You four will pay for your deeds. You don’t know what you’ve done.”

Hal gestured to Barry, who still had Freeze’s gun. “Well, this guy kinda has your weapon, so….”

“I have other ways to defeating you. I have—”

From above and behind the four heroes, a batarang came flying and cut right through one of the tubes connecting Freeze’s helmet to his suit. Instantly, Freeze gasped and panicked. There was still another tube connected to his helmet, but half the cold supply to his head was cut off and he could already feel the warmth seeping in. 

Seemingly from the sky, a small child in a bright red and yellow costume landed on his feet in front of the four heroes. He stood up straight and pumped a fist. “Yeah, got him!”

Hal and Barry exchanged glances. A kid?

Another caped figure came down. This one was taller and dressed in all black. He landed right next to the child and glanced at Freeze before looking back at the other heroes with a scowl. 

“I could have taken care of him. This is my city.”

Hal crossed his arms. _This_ was the ‘Batman’ he’d heard so much about? “Yeah, but you didn’t. You’re welcome, by the way.”

Clark said, “We were just trying to help.”

Batman scowled at them, then turned his attention back to the kid. “Robin, apprehend Freeze.”

The kid, Robin, practically jumped in excitement. “You got it.” He made his way over to Freeze, doing a series of somersaults for seemingly no reason other than the fun of it. When he got to Freeze, he pulled out a pair of handcuffs and proceeded to apprehend the weakening Freeze as instructed. 

Barry approached Batman, hoping to make peace. “Green Lantern and I saw the news so we came down here to see what was going on. Like Superman said, we just wanted to help, and I’m sure that’s true for Wonder Woman too. We’re not trying to encroach on your territory.” 

Batman glared at him. “I didn’t help you build your suit so you could fight my battles.” 

Hearing that got under Hal’s skin. The lantern stepped up to Barry’s side and closer to Batman. “You’re not the only person who lives in this twisted city, Bats. And by the way, this entire planet is my territory, including Gotham.”

Clark and Diana exchanged exasperated glances and stepped in as well. 

“Like Flash said, we don’t intend to overstay our welcome,” Clark said. “There were bombs placed all over the city. That would have been tough for anyone to handle on their own.” 

“Agreed,” Diana said. “Our goal was merely to protect the civilians.” 

Robin, having apprehended Freeze and leaving him nearby, approached them again with a wide frown on his face. He crossed his arms in childish annoyance. “Why are you guys fighting? Everyone helped. Come on, you guys could be a superhero team or something. Wouldn’t that be awesome?”

The elder heroes exchanged glances, save for Batman, who was glaring at Robin.

Hal pointed to himself. “I’m already on a team, but thanks.” 

“Actually…,” Diana began. “It wouldn’t be a bad idea to keep in touch. These days, more and more anomalies have been appearing not just in Gotham, but all over the world.” 

Barry nodded. “There’s strength in numbers.”

Hal groaned. “Ugh, fine.”

A moment of silence fell on the group as everyone, including Robin, looked to Batman and waited for an answer. They waited. And waited. Hal made a watch construct on his wrist and pointed to it expectantly, scowling at Batman.

Finally, Batman looked to his sidekick and pulled out his grappling gun. “Robin, we’re leaving.” 

Robin frowned but pulled out his own grappling gun. He groaned. “Aw, man….” In a swift, smooth motion, both of them left the scene to a skyscraper nearby, and then elsewhere. Within seconds, a large net came down from a plane belonging to Batman that captured Freeze and pulled him out of the scene. 

The remaining four glanced at each other. 

“Well, we can still keep in touch,” Barry said. 

Clark and Diana exchanged a knowing glance again, and then looked back at Hal and Barry. Clark gestured to Diana as he addressed the pair. “We already know each other. And, GL, I apparently already know you as well….”

That statement confused Barry a little. He looked over at Hal. “How do you know Superman?”

Hal grinned and moved to Barry, whispering in his ear. “It’s okay, Barry. It’s Clark.”

Barry’s eyes widened. His head spun around to look at Clark, who was looking back at him because he’d also heard Hal’s whisper.

“It’s you!”

“It’s you!” 

While the two of them were still processing that, Hal looked in Diana’s direction. “And Diana...love the outfit, but not much of a disguise.”

She looked at him smugly. “Speak for yourself, Hal Jordan.”

Hal looked offended. “Hey! This mask is awesome and hides my face just enough, okay?”

Well all this was certainly kinda funny. Not only did they all know each other, they were already friends. 

“Does anyone know who Batman is?” Diana asked. 

Hal looked to Barry. “You worked with him. He tell you yet?”

Barry shook his head. “He still won’t tell me. He’s taken me to his cave, but only on the condition that he restrains my senses so I can’t tell where it is. I didn’t even know he had a sidekick...”

“He has a cave?!” Hal said incredulously. “I think that guy has some serious problems.”

The group laughed together. Afterwards, the four of them all agreed to keep in touch if they ever needed help, whether it was inside of Gotham or out. Hopefully it wouldn’t ever come to that, but the world was a strange place these days and it was nice knowing each of them had someone else they could count on if something happened. They weren’t giving up on the idea of forming some kind of partnership with Batman either, but Batman would just have to come to them when he was ready. 

Even though Hal was reluctant at first, he knew Barry was right. There was strength in numbers.

* * *

A couple of days later, Hal and Barry were in their respective uniforms, sparring together in a forest outside of the city. The sun was setting and giving them a warm glow between the trees as they practiced. 

Now that they each had a hang of their respective powers, they figured it was time to develop their hand-to-hand combat skills. Particularly for Barry, because Hal had received some of that during his training on Oa, although his skills could be improved as well. So, here they were, sparring while withholding speed and constructs. 

Both men had fists ready, circling each other. 

“I don’t wanna hurt you,” Barry said.

“I told you, the ring provides a barrier. I can still feel your punch, and if you punch me hard enough it’ll hurt, but it would hurt a lot more if I wasn’t wearing it.” 

“Hard doing this without my speed. I’m so used to it now.”

“Gotta start with the basics,” Hal said. “Well, that’s what they told me on Oa.”

Barry threw a fist and Hal moved out of the way just in time, grabbing Barry’s arm and with great force, flipped him over and brought him to the ground. The speedster groaned as he hit the grass. 

“Too much?” Hal asked, offering his hand. 

Barry grabbed his hand and let Hal pull him back to his feet. “I’m good…”

The moment he was on his feet again, Hal moved to strike but Barry grabbed his arm and moved it behind his back, twisting it. 

“Heard you on the phone with your mom this morning,” Barry said casually. 

Hal groaned and moved out of Barry’s grasp, jumping away. “Yeah. Apparently she’s dropping the lawsuit against Ferris.” He moved to strike again but Barry moved his arms up to block. 

“Really? Wow. Any particular reason?”

Hal kept trying to strike while Barry stayed on the defensive. “There was an investigation that found that the autopilot system had been previously tested multiple times to be in working order. The only incident where anything went wrong was when my dad was in the plane, so there’s insufficient evidence of any wrongdoing or neglect.”

Barry ducked down suddenly, swiping his boot to knock Hal off his feet. He succeeded, causing the lantern to hit the ground. 

Hal groaned and sat up on the grass. “So, basically, there’s no way anyone could have known it would happen. It was a fluke.”

A shadow appeared over him as Barry moved to help him up. “I’m sorry, Hal.”

Hal took his hand and let him pull him up. He shrugged, though there was a touch of sadness in his expression anyway. “The whole ordeal has put Ferris himself in bad health. He and dad were friends for many years, and my family has pretty much cut all ties with him. Carol might be taking over his position since she was training for it anyway.”

“Pretty heavy burden,” Barry said. 

“Yeah. Well, mom also asked me if I still planned to stay in the pilot program,” Hal continued, moving to strike again. This time, he actually managed to hit Barry, landing a punch on his shoulder. He knew he could have aimed for his face or somewhere else equally vulnerable, but the goal wasn’t to hurt each other, it was just to train. 

Barry recoiled, rubbing his shoulder and stepped back a little. “What did you tell her?” He charged at Hal, running at normal speed. Hal tried to move away, but Barry moved with him, successfully pouncing on him. The pair hit the ground together, Barry pinning him to the ground. 

Hal smirked up at him. “I thought we were saving this for later.”

Barry blushed and instantly moved off of him, causing Hal to laugh as he made his way to his feet.

“I told her I’m staying in it,” Hal continued. “I want to be a pilot. Don’t know where yet, but it’s in my blood. I gotta fly.” He moved to strike again. “She wasn’t happy, and I think we’re back to that ‘no talking’ mode. I’m still on thin ice with my brothers too.”

Barry evaded Hal’s strike and moved for a strike of his own. “But it’s been months since the funeral and anything happened.” Meaning, it had been months since Hal did anything to piss them off, like he had when he’d acted irresponsibly at the funeral. 

Hal felt the heel of Barry’s hand slam against his chest. It pushed him back a bit, but wasn’t forceful enough to hurt him. “Nngh. Yeah, I know, but they’re upset that I’m going against mom’s wishes and they think I’m being selfish.” He grabbed Barry’s arm, twisted it behind him, and shoved him chest first into a nearby tree. 

Barry struggled, resisting the urge to use his abilities to vibrate out of Hal’s tight hold. “Ah...sorry to hear it.” 

Hal didn’t move. “World goes on. I have a life to live. I have plans. Flying, the corps,.....you.”

As touched as Barry was hearing a statement like that from Hal, even though it was vague, he continued to struggle against his hold. Hal was using both hands now to restrain both of Barry’s behind his back and keeping him pushed against the tree. 

“I...ah...told my dad about us,” Barry said. “When I visited him the other day.”

“Whoa….” Hal said. “What did he say?”

Finally, Barry managed to wiggle free. He spun around ducked, dipping beneath Hal’s arms and moving behind him. This time, he shoved Hal back against the tree. 

“I thought he’d be surprised that I wasn’t straight, but he said he kind of always knew,” Barry said. “He wants to meet you, so you have to fulfill your promise to go down with me sometime.” 

Hal struggled against Barry’s hold this time. “That’s great, Bar. Count me in.” Finally, he broke free and shoved Barry away, quickly stepping out of arm’s reach. 

Barry recovered, facing Hal again. “Speaking of plans...what are we doing...after college? We only have a year left. I’m gonna be a scientist, you’re gonna be a pilot. Neither of us are staying in Gotham. Where are we going?”

Hal, who had been moving in an offensive stance, stopped and stood straight again. “I don’t...like to think that far ahead.”

Of course. This was Hal Jordan after all. Barry looked down briefly and took a breath, nodding. “Yeah. I understand.” 

Hal moved closer to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Look. I like this thing we have going and I definitely want it to continue. It’s just...the past few years for me, especially this last year, have changed my life completely. I’m just...I’m just not ready to plan my entire life right now.” 

Putting it that way seemed to make sense to Barry and seemed to relieve him a little. He nodded again, but with a little more confidence this time. “So...a day at a time?”

“Yeah. A day at a time. Is that okay with you?” 

“I can do that,” Barry said.

Hal leaned in and gave him a quick kiss. “Honestly, I don’t know what I’d do without you anyway.”

That made Barry smile a little. Seeing it, Hal threw his arm around Barry’s shoulder and hugged him close. 

“I’m ready to grab some grub, what do you say?”

“I am pretty hungry…”

“You’re always hungry. Come on, let’s head back home.” 

Hal turned away, intending to fly off but Barry tapped him on the shoulder. The lantern turned back with a raised eyebrow. “What?”

In response, Barry pulled him close and kissed him deeply. Hal hummed in satisfaction, wrapping his arms around him as he returned the kiss, melting into the moment. Once they broke the kiss, they still held each other, leaning their foreheads against one another. 

Hal grinned. “What was that for?”

“I just felt like it,” Barry said softly. 

“You can have more where that came from back home.”

“Meet you back then.”

Hal took his hand, giving it a squeeze. “No. Let’s go together.”

Barry smiled. “That sounds like a better idea. Together.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue coming soon. Thanks for reading! 
> 
> My twitter: [halhighball](https://twitter.com/halhighball) | My tumblr: [msgrayson](http://msgrayson.tumblr.com/)


	11. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is Hal ready to commit to a future with Barry?

Barry was in the Batcave. Just as had happened several times now, he met Batman at a designated spot where Batman met him and restrained his senses so he wouldn’t see or be able to tell where the cave was before taking him there via Batmobile. Even though Barry was used to this by now, he wished that Batman trusted him enough with his identity and location. However, since Batman had helped him so much after his accident and subsequent acquisition of powers, he found it difficult to complain. 

The Batcave was a vast and, frankly, intimidating place. Barry found it uncomfortable, but all of his discomfort was overshadowed by his fascination with all of Batman’s tech, gear, and forensic knowledge. What Barry found particularly fascinating was that, at his heart, Batman was a detective. 

Even though Batman hadn’t told him his identity, he still must have trusted him because he kept bringing him back here long after Barry got the hang of his powers. Barry never once tried to escape in order to identify the location, nor did he ever try to secretly get into Batman’s computer system for sensitive information. He simply let Batman take him there and collaborated with him to figure out what exactly made Barry’s new powers tick. 

Barry figured this would be another routine day of trying something new with his powers or perfecting an already known technique such as phasing. He figured wrong. 

Batman was sitting before his massive computer, typing away. Barry stood nearby, leaning on the edge of the desk with his arms crossed. He was wearing his Flash uniform with the mask pulled back to expose his face.

“I did some background research on you,” Batman said. 

Barry went cold. There was only one topic that came up whenever anyone looked into his past. “You read about my father.” 

On the monitor, information and a picture of Barry’s dad came up. Barry looked at the screen and frowned deeply. 

Batman continued, “He was found with the murder weapon and—”

“I know,” Barry said, as calmly as he could manage. “I know what it says. Is there a reason you’re bringing this up?”

“Why do you want to be a forensic scientist?”

“He didn’t do it. One day, I’m going to go back there and prove it.” 

“What makes you so sure?” Batman asked calmly.

Barry looked straight at him. “Because I was there.” 

Batman just looked at him for a moment, like he was studying his expression, but behind the cowl it was hard to tell. 

This was the absolute last thing that Barry wanted to talk about. “You don’t have to believe me. I know what I saw that day. I’m well aware that in moments of trauma, the human memory is fallible, especially in a child. But I know what I saw that day and I’ll never forget it. If you think this case is clouding my judgement, it’s not. I want to free my father from prison and bring justice to my mom’s real killer. That’s it.”

If anything Barry said got to Batman, it didn’t show. “What did you see that day, Barry?

Barry hesitated. He hadn’t told anyone since he’d tried to tell the cops as a kid and they all but laughed at him. Hell, he hadn’t even told _Hal_. 

“I’ll ask you one more time, Barry. What did you see when your mother was murdered?”

“I...I really don’t see how this is relevant to—”

“Barry.” Now Batman was glaring.

Dammit. Barry looked down. His hands were shaking. Was he really going to do this? Was he really going to trust Batman with this information, when he hadn’t even gone so far as to tell his best friend and boyfriend? 

“He was...like me. He was a speedster.”

Batman didn’t say anything.

“A speedster killed my mom. For all these years I couldn’t make sense of it, and then after the accident...I haven’t known what to think. But that’s what I saw that day.” 

Batman was quiet for a long time. Barry didn’t say anything else because if he started describing the circumstances in detail, he wasn’t sure how well he could hold it together. 

Then, finally, Batman reached for his cowl. In a smooth motion, he pulled his cowl off and looked at Barry with dark but sincere eyes. 

“I believe you.” 

Barry’s eyes widened. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “ _Bruce?!_ ”

Bruce continued, “When I was a child, my parents were murdered in cold blood in crime alley. To this day, I haven’t found their killer. But the memory is etched in my mind.” 

Barry’s head was spinning as he tried to make sense of all this. His lab partner, who’d fumbled around in the lab and seemed completely clueless despite Barry’s suspicion he might actually be smarter than he let on...was Batman. Wow. Well, that explained a lot.

“That’s why you’re a detective,” Barry said. “You’re still new at this, aren’t you? That’s why you’re taking chemistry classes on campus. You know a lot already, but you’re trying to learn even more so you can sharpen your detective skills.”

“Sometimes memories are fallible,” Bruce said. “But sometimes they’re not.”

“Especially when the same scene plays in your mind over and over.”

Bruce gave a short nod. 

Barry sighed. “Oh, man. Hal would never believe me if I told him who you are.”

A small smirk appeared on the corner of Bruce’s lips. 

Just then, they both heard footsteps coming from the staircase. It was a kid, racing down quickly in Bruce and Barry’s direction. 

“Bruuuuuce! Alfred says your dinner is getting cold.”

Bruce frowned and faced the kid’s direction. “I told you and Alfred I was to be left alone with my visitor.” 

The kid stopped in his tracks nearby the computer when he spotted Barry. He looked at him with wide eyes, particularly in admiration of his costume. Then, he gave him a big smile. “You’re Barry, right? Bruce told me about you. I’m Dick Grayson.” 

Dick approached Barry and offered his hand. Even though Barry had seen Robin in action in downtown Gotham recently, this was the first he’d been able to actually speak with him despite being in the cave several times previously. Bruce had kept anyone else in the manor away from the cave whenever Barry was around. Barry reached and shook Dick’s small hand, noting that the kid had a powerful grip. 

“Nice to meet you,” Barry said. Then, he had a realization. “You met my boyfriend. Do you remember Hal Jordan?”

Dick laughed. “Yeah! That guy was the coolest.”

Barry snorted. “Don’t let him hear you say that.”

Then Dick, without any hesitation whatsoever, asked, “Is Hal the Green Lantern?” 

That wasn’t what Barry had been expecting, and he wasn’t sure how to answer. 

Bruce answered for him, “Yes, Hal is the Green Lantern. Now get back upstairs. I told you and Alfred that I’m busy.”

Dick pumped his fist and grinned. “I knew it! Okay, okay, I’m going. Nice to meet you, Barry! Tell your boyfriend I said hi!” He skipped off, racing back up the staircase into what Barry now realized was Wayne Manor. 

After he was gone, Barry looked at Bruce with a confused glance. “How did you know that Hal was the Green Lantern?

Bruce looked back at his computer with a slight smirk. “Because I’m Batman.” 

* * *

Hal and Barry were fixing to enter their senior year of college. During the summer, they’d decided to downsize into a one bedroom apartment. For one, it cut down on expenses, which would be very helpful to them both. 

But mostly, they were sharing the same bed pretty much every night lately, so it was the most logical option. 

They’d done all the moving on their own and without any powers, much to Hal’s chagrin. By the time they had all the boxes and furniture successfully moved into the new place, they were both so tired that they found themselves laying on the floor next to each other, staring at the popcorn ceiling. Boxes surrounded them but at the moment neither of them cared.

Hal was frowning. “I still hate Gotham.”

“At least this apartment is nice,” Barry offered. “Nicer than our old one, actually.”

Hal nodded. “Yeah. And we’re together. Well, when I don’t have to go off world.”

Barry reached for his hand, taking it in his own. “Your home is here. It always will be.” 

Did Barry mean that Hal’s home was ‘here’ as in Earth? Or was it ‘here’ as in…with him? Even though Hal had said multiple times by now that planning that far in the future scared him, occasionally Barry seemed to allude to a distant future with Hal. The idea was still a little intimidating for Hal, but the more Barry talked that way and the more time they spent together...the more he was starting to warm up to the idea. 

He squeezed Barry’s hand. “Yeah. You’re right.”

Barry glanced at him and smiled. “But...I have something else to tell you.” 

Hal glanced at him questioningly. 

“I know who Batman is.”

“He _finally_ told you, after all this time? Took him long enough. Who is it?”

“You won’t believe me.”

“Oh yeah? Try me.” 

Barry waited for several seconds to build the suspense. “It’s Bruce.”

Hal stared him, confused. “What? Now I know you’re lying to me.”

“I’m not,” Barry said with a chuckle. “It’s Bruce. Robin is Dick Grayson. He says hi, by the way.”

Hal continued to stare at him for several moments in disbelief, but then he started thinking about it. All the signs he’d seen that something wasn’t quite right with Bruce. The way that Bruce’s personality had seemed so fake when they’d spoken, but Hal had dismissed that as just a weird rich guy being a weird rich guy. The way that Bruce had told him that someone would pick them up from the roof after Hal had met Dick. The way that Bruce looked like an average guy but was somehow way heavier than he expected when he helped pull him up on the roof. The fact that Batman knew so much about Barry right off, from what Barry had told him before. 

“You gotta be kidding me,” Hal said, putting his free hand over his face in exasperation. 

“He said I could tell you,” Barry said. “But it took some convincing.” 

“I almost wish I didn’t know….”

Barry chuckled. It felt nice for him to finally be able to share that information with Hal. It only made him want to share the story about the speedster that he saw murder his mother, but given the gravity of the subject, now wasn’t the best time. He would tell Hal, and soon. But right now, he just wanted to enjoy this moment with him. 

“You know what? Forget about Bruce,” Hal said. “We just moved into a nice apartment and you have to share your bed with me every night, Mister Allen.”

Hal was grinning, but Barry rolled his eyes and groaned. “Please don’t call me that, it sounds weird.” 

Hal rolled closer to him, laying on his side as he continued to grin. “Mister Allen….”

“Hal…”

“I’m looking for the handsome Mister Allen, is he in this evening?”

Barry put his hand over Hal’s face and shoved him playfully. “Knock it off, Harold.” 

Hal just laughed and returned to Barry’s side, this time moving even closer to him. “Yeah? Or you’ll do what exactly?”

“This.” Barry cupped Hal’s face in his hands and brought him down for a long, passionate kiss. Hal melted against him immediately, relaxing his body on top of Barry’s as he pushed back against the kiss with fervor. Upon feeling Hal’s body on his, Barry wrapped his arms around him tightly. At the same time, both of Hal’s hands tangled through Barry’s hair as they continued sharing the sweet kiss. 

Sighing contentedly after the kiss, Barry moved his hand to caress Hal’s cheek and jaw. “I love you, you know.” 

There was a pause as Hal’s expression changed, the words having caught him off guard. They’d been dating since the spring, but they still hadn’t said those words yet, mostly because Hal himself was afraid to do so. Hal had the feeling that Barry held back on saying it because he knew Hal might be uncomfortable, but it looked like Barry wasn’t thinking about that right now. Maybe he was swept up in the moment, or maybe he just couldn’t hold it back anymore. 

Hal was aware of his own feelings now. Ever since he met Barry, his whole life had changed. Since then, he’d been through so much. Barry had been with him every step of the way, even when Hal made it difficult. When he decided to show Barry a whole new side of himself and start a romantic relationship with him, everything had been going so well and it was so good that Hal couldn’t imagine wanting to be anywhere else. Not now, now in the future, and not after college. 

Maybe he should be making those plans after all. 

“I love you, too,” he said softly. He leaned down to kiss him again and, this time, Barry’s kiss was sweeter than ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I've said it already, but I can't thank you guys enough for sticking with this story. Not only do I love Hal and Barry, but this story also explored some themes that are really personal to me, so it means a lot to hear that others have enjoyed it. 
> 
> I don't have anything new in the works yet, but I'm tossing around some ideas. Hopefully you'll see me post again sooner than later!
> 
> Big love to you all. Have a good day!
> 
> My twitter: [halhighball](https://twitter.com/halhighball) | My tumblr: [msgrayson](http://msgrayson.tumblr.com/)


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